It might be hard to muster up any sympathy for Gordon Ramsay if you've seen him chewing out the chefs on Hell's Kitchen or heard about some of the controversies surrounding his new show, Kitchen Nightmares, which premieres on Fox this month.

However, the past couple of weeks have been rough for Chef Ramsay, and even those who love to hate him might feel some stirrings of pity for the man when they learn of how this tough period culminated in one of his own painful waking Kitchen Nightmares.

The bad news started with the report that, for the first time since 2000, his Restaurant Gordon Ramsay did not top the ratings in British Harden's restaurant guide. The guide, which compiles its scores from 8000 regular restaurant-goers, claims that the standards for his restaurants are slipping, even while four of his restaurants still remain in the top ten.

The results have been dismissed by Ramsay's agent, Chris Hutcheson, who said in response, “Harden's has to sell a lot of copies, so there has to be an element of sensationalism…They like to destroy, rather than construct.” He also pointed out that sales have “never been better” and noted that Restaurant Gordon Ramsay remains London's only Michelin three-starred restaurant.

And if that wasn't bad enough, this week, literal injury was added to insult as Ramsay experienced a very painful kitchen injury. He told the Scottish Daily Record, "The other day I was standing too close to the [stove] when I was cooking. I was wearing these cotton trousers and underneath I was going commando… Suddenly, I felt this searing heat. I went, 'F**k me, bol***ks to that,' and for once I was spot on. My balls were burning."

He was rushed to the hospital for a burn on his right testicle, and says, "I'm in absolute agony. You wouldn't believe how much this hurts…I went to the hospital because of the excruciating pain. People think I went in for a knee injury, but that's bulls**t."

The results of the ultrasound of the injured area are expected on Friday.

After such a rough few weeks, one can only imagine he is hoping for smoother sailing - and cooler nether regions - from now until his Kitchen Nightmares premiere on Wednesday, September 19, at 9pm Eastern.


- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: Financial Times, Reality TV World
(Image courtesy of Fox)