GORDON RAMSAY

THE KITCHEN NIGHTMARES HOST CREATED A CULINARY EMPIRE ON SHARP CRITICISM AND SAUCY LANGUAGE. BUT AT HOME THE FATHER OF FIVE IS 'INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE' - AND WORKING ON HIS CURSING!

- ANA CALDERONE

Standing on the rooftop terrace of his London apartment, Gordon Ramsay makes a fatherly faux pas. With Oscar, his youngest child, on his shoulders, Ramsay takes away a sandwich the 4-year-old is eating and tosses it to the birds in an effort to get him to smile for the People camera. “He flipped his s---,” he says of the ensuing meltdown. You might call the 56-year-old an “idiot sandwich”—one of his most iconic disses turned meme (see box on page 35)—for the mistake, but he recovers quickly, kicking into dad mode: making funny faces, offering a replacement sandwich or one of the Lifesavers stashed in his pocket for moments like this.

The display is a far cry from the famously foul-mouthed chef who rose to stardom hurling harsh feedback on Fox shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares (the latter returning on Sept. 25 after nearly 10 years). “The kids have brought the most emotion out of me,” concedes Ramsay, who also shares daughter Megan, 25, twins Jack and Holly, 23, and daughter Matilda (“Tilly”), 21, with his wife, Tana. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Because everyone thinks, ‘God, you must be an absolute ass to be at home with.’[But] Tana’s super fierce, an ex-Montessori school teacher. So I’m the softie.”