Gordon Ramsay Net Worth questions surface as six-part Being Gordon Ramsay blends business and family
The release of the six-part Netflix documentary Being Gordon Ramsay — a six-hour portrait of the chef’s bid to open multiple venues in one building — has reignited public curiosity about gordon ramsay net worth while also drawing an allegation that the series whitewashes his past. The programme’s intense focus on a large-scale hospitality project and intimate family scenes matters now because it frames both the commercial scale of the venture and conflicting personal accounts in a single narrative.
Gordon Ramsay Net Worth and the 22 Bishopsgate project
Being Gordon Ramsay follows what is billed as Ramsay’s biggest venture yet: the launch of a new restaurant concept at 22 Bishopsgate. The series chronicles the chef’s attempt to open what the show phrases as five restaurants across the top floors of the tower — a feat the programme jokes feels like “seven billion (five, but it feels like seven billion)” restaurants. Planned outlets include a 60-seat rooftop garden with a retractable roof, a 250-seater Asian-inflected restaurant called Lucky Cat, a Bread Street Kitchen brasserie and a culinary school. The scale and commercial focus of the project have prompted viewers to ask questions about gordon ramsay net worth and the financial and reputational stakes behind the series.
22 Bishopsgate operations and design details
The documentary devotes screen time to the practical mechanics of launching multiple venues simultaneously. Each premise is shown being designed and built from scratch, with one receiving a retractable roof. Staff and designers face detailed decisions: portion sizing in menu tastings (the programme notes a rum baba cannot be made too small or it will not aerate properly), prototype apron pockets are removed to prevent wait staff from filling them and appearing scruffy, and leather seating was vetoed for taking up space. The series frames the build-out as “a huge undertaking”, “high risk, high reward” and “a once in a lifetime opportunity”, and Ramsay himself calls it “one of my final stakes in the ground … If it fails, I’m fucked. ”
Tana Ramsay and the family scenes
The series alternates the kitchen-floor detail with home life. It opens on a family scene: the youngest of Ramsay’s six children with his wife of 30 years, Tana, eating pancakes that Ramsay deems too thick — American-style rather than the crepes he prefers — prompting Tana to say, “Darling, could you just give it a rest?” The programme lists the children’s ages and names: Megan is 27; the twins Holly and Jack are 25; Matilda is 23; Oscar is six; and Jessie James is 18 months. At one point the catalogue of names prompts the wry aside, “Did I miss any of them? Thank fuck for that. ” The footage shows Ramsay playing with the little ones, helping with older children’s weddings and fittings for inaugural chef whites, underscoring his energy and the family’s evident affection while also suggesting the older children have a firm handle on their father.
Sarah Symonds and allegations of a seven-year affair
Not all reaction to the series has been positive. Sarah Symonds, aged 56, has publicly accused Ramsay of presenting a “fake” and “rehabilitated” image in the Netflix series. Symonds told the Daily Mail that she alleges a seven-year affair with Ramsay between 2001 and 2008 — a claim he has long denied — and described the documentary’s portrayal of him as a devoted husband and father as “misleading and disingenuous. ” She said the series glosses over what she describes as years of infidelity and bullying behaviour and accused Ramsay of living “a double life” while cultivating a family-man public persona. Symonds added: “Gordon always acted like a single man, a man about town. He was always available and always at the same social venues late at night as me. He had the swagger and confidence of a man with no responsibilities, and the persona of a man who certainly wasn't rushing home. ”
Ramsay has consistently denied the affair claim; he told the Good Food Show in Birmingham, “If I was going to cheat it wouldn’t be with a complete slapper, ” and he insists he has only ever met Symonds four times. In the wake of the allegations, Gordon and Tana renewed their vows and went on to welcome their sons Oscar and Jesse.
Critical reception, chefs and brand positioning
Critics have variously described the six-hour series as an extended brand advert and as a thorough account of the logistical and aesthetic decisions behind a major launch. At work, the programme shows chefs who respect Ramsay “because he’s walked the walk before, talking the talk, ” and it emphasizes a perfectionist ethos: the documentary argues that people on his teams strive to perform at the highest standard because it is the right thing to do. That adherence to craft is credited with keeping the series from becoming, in Ramsay’s blunt phrasing, “the absolute bollocks” it might have been. The footage also offers the visceral pleasure of watching highly skilled cooks construct what the programme calls “mouthwatering dishes you will ever, if you can afford it, eat. ”
What makes this notable is the way the series folds commercial spectacle, intense operational detail and intimate home moments into a single package — an editorial choice that has prompted both admiration for the work on display and criticism that the show functions as promotion as much as documentary. The programme’s length and focus on five concurrent businesses explain why some viewers find six hours a generous allotment of screen time for what one critic called “a lot of restaurant drama to have in your life. ”
