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Being Gordon Ramsay is a six-part docuseries that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the life of the celebrity chef, restaurant group mogul and ubiquitous media star. While we see him with his wife Tena, his then-23-year-old daughter Tilly and the then 5-year-old Oscar and 1-year-old Jesse James (Gordon and Tena have six kids total, four of which are adults), we also see the progress on what he says is his most ambitious project to date: Five distinct restaurant spaces on the top floors of the 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper in London.
BEING GORDON RAMSAY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Gordon Ramsay at home, playing with his son Oscar. His youngest son Jesse James scoots around in a baby walker. His wife Tana tells him it’s time to leave.
The Gist: In addition to seeing his family life and the scramble to open on time at 22 Bishopsgate, Ramsay talks about his rough upbringing, his beginnings as a chef, and how he learned from his screw-ups. He and Tana also talk about when they met close to 30 years ago, and he shows her the terrace space that will house one of his restaurant spaces under a retractable roof. He goes with Tilly, who now hosts her own cooking show and was about to go to culinary school, try on her first set of chef whites, which to him is “not as daunting as seeing your daughter in a wedding dress, but it is fucking up there.”
He also decides that he wants to bring influencers to the new space, 22 weeks before its planned opening, for a “hard hat” dinner. Ramsay feels that influencers are way more important to the restaurant business than critics at this point, and he wants to give them a preview of the space. The plan is to prepare and serve the food on the terrace, but the weather looks like it won’t cooperate.
Photo: NetflixWhat Shows Will It Remind You Of? Being Gordon Ramsay is in the family of promotional docuseries that brought us Beckham.
Our Take: While we were watching the first episode of Being Gordon Ramsay, we were trying to figure out why it existed. It’s not like we haven’t seen Ramsay on our screens pretty much constantly over the last 20 years, and we’ve even seen situations where he’s not being the bombastic, f-bomb-dropping hard-ass that we see on shows like Kitchen Nightmares or Hell’s Kitchen.
Sure, it’s nice to get a glimpse of Ramsay’s family life, and get to hear from Tilly about how supportive he’s been and how he’s been there for her, despite how busy he is. We’re not sure if the Ramsays’ other adult children will be on camera, but we’re pretty sure they won’t say anything different.
And, while it seems like there’s a rush to the finish line with the ambitious space at 22 Bishopsgate, and Ramsay can be a demanding boss, it doesn’t seem like there’s much tension involved in the construction and preparation of the project. All of the spaces opened in 2025, and it’s not like we’re seeing the scramble happening a month before the scheduled opening.
All of this is to say that Being Gordon Ramsay is a pleasant watch but surprisingly dull. It’s almost as if Ramsay is actually a good guy and putting on a persona for his TV shows! Imagine that!
Photo: NetflixPerformance Worth Watching: Tana Ramsay shines in the role of the “power behind the throne”; we’re curious if he and Gordon are going to talk about having two children later in life, when they were on the verge of becoming empty nesters.
Sex And Skin: None.
Parting Shot: As he’s driven to the “hard hat” dinner during a driving rainstorm, Ramsay mutters, “I just hope this fucking rain stops.”
Sleeper Star: Oscar and Jesse James Ramsay are both adorable, of course, and, given we’re pretty old parents ourselves (though not as old as Gordon), we appreciate anyone who is in their 50s with grade-school-aged kids or younger.
Most Pilot-y Line: We thought it was quite funny when Gordon, driving Tilly to get her chef whites, backs into a delivery van because of his impatience. It’s something that shows that Ramsay is human, of course, but it’s also a bit superfluous.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Unless you’re a Gordon Ramsay completist, Being Gordon Ramsay feels like it’s going to be six episodes of of the same pleasant but dull Ramsay promotional material that we saw in the first episode.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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