They’ve been friends for years and have even spent Christmases together.
But Gordon Ramsay insists his friendship with David and Victoria Beckham is the real deal and says he leaned on them for support during his rift with his father-in-law.
Gordon’s wife Tana was devastated when her father Chris Hutcheson fell out with the chef, with her mother Greta standing by her husband.
Fighting back: Gordon Ramsay, pictured at New York’s JFK Airport yesterday, is looking forward to the future
As well as fighting with his father-in-law, who was his former business partner, Gordon also had to deal with financial problems at his restaurant empire.
Reflecting on the stressful 18 months, the Scot, 45, said he and his wife, 36, have ‘never been so close before’ and are looking forward to the future.
He credited his friends David and Victoria will being a pillar of strength for the couple when they were struggling to deal with strain.
Supportive: Gordon said David and Victoria Beckham are two of the few people they can trust
He told the Daily Mirror: ‘David and Victoria were just extraordinary in terms of the help and support during this time.
‘They really were great. People thought we were going to escape the UK and go and live in LA permanently.
‘But I’m a fighter and there was no chance of me giving up and going there.’
Gordon praised his wife for putting the feud with her family behind her and channelling her energies into setting up her All About The Girl beauty salon in Battersea, South London.
Feud: Chris Hutcheson and his wife Greta no longer speak to Gordon and Tana
He added: ‘Boys, like me and Chris, are always going to fight, but to have your mum ignore you, well that was hard… Tana and I have never been so close before.’
The problems started when Gordon sacked Chris, 63, in October 2010, with the latter branding the chef a celebrity-obsessed ‘monster’.
Gordon ended up writing a public letter revealing he had employed private detectives to investigate Chris and his ‘complex personal life’.
It was later revealed Chris had been living a second, secret life for three decades with mistress Frances Collins and two children.
Chris initially sued Gordon for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages, before reaching a £2million settlement in February this year – which includes payment for a 30 per cent share in Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
Last December, Gordon was awarded £250,000 costs after a judge ruled that Chris, Tana’s sister Orlanda Butland and her brother Adam were liable for breach of confidence after hacking into personal emails and company computers.
