In his first interview since his spectacular and poisonous feud with his father-in-law erupted, Gordon Ramsay lays bare how it threatened to destroy his marriage.
For more than a dozen years, Gordon Ramsay and his father-in-law Chris Hutcheson ran a hugely successful business.
Through the prism of Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH), they opened restaurants all over the world, where diners flocked to taste dishes inspired and devised by the man who became one of the most famous TV chefs of them all.
Tough decision: Gordon Ramsay realised he had to sack his father-in-law to not only progress, but save his business
Tough decision: Gordon Ramsay realised he had to sack his father-in-law to not only progress, but save his business
The two men were closer than father and son, running the business on little more than trust and phone calls. Yet on the menu closer to home, unknown to everyone, a dreadful stew of lies, deceit and millions of pounds has been simmering on the back burner for the past few years.
Now, it has boiled over into a terrible family war. ‘And there is no going back,’ Ramsay told me.
After losing track of millions he’d personally sunk into the GRH empire, he felt he had no choice but to sack his father-in-law, which he did last month. Some expert advice he received only strengthened his resolve.
‘The best financial advisers said to me: ‘‘Gordon, would you still employ this individual if he was not your father-in-law?’’ I answered the question in seconds. In the negative,’ he says.
‘Chris was so controlling, so overbearing, so incestuous that the only way out was to cut the ties. There is never a gentle form of negotiations with him. You’re in or out, black or white. I was not going to do this half-heartedly.’
Part of the problem — and as we shall see there were many, many problems — was that various people Ramsay refers to as ‘Hutcheson’s dependants’ were benefiting from the business with Hutcheson’s encouragement, but not always Ramsay’s approval.
‘They were taking the p***,’ is how Ramsay puts it, with characteristic brio.
Bitter rift: Greta and Chris Hutcheson’s relationship with their son-in-law Gordon Ramsay is shattered due some tough decisions the TV chef felt he had to take
Bitter rift: Greta and Chris Hutcheson’s relationship with their son-in-law Gordon Ramsay is shattered due some tough decisions the TV chef felt he had to take
Yet not even Ramsay was prepared for the course the usually reclusive Hutcheson would embark upon after being fired.
To the surprise of many, he gave an explosive interview to the Mail on Sunday, in which he accused Ramsay of being a monster and hinted at knowing where the ‘bodies are buried’.
For good measure, he even floated the notion Ramsay had mood swings that might be put down to drugs.
Then matters got worse this week. The chef responded by writing an extraordinary open letter to his mother-in-law, Greta Hutcheson, published in the pages of a London newspaper.
It was littered with dark hints about Hutcheson’s private life, which Ramsay described as ‘complex’. Put it this way: If Greta thought she knew everything about her husband, then she must doubt that now.
Many commentators, including myself, thought that Ramsay had flipped. Why swing such a wrecking ball in the heart of a family that was already fractured? It seemed crazy and reeked of hubris.
Now, in his first interview since the scandal began, the beleaguered chef reveals that, behind the scenes, he was fighting for his professional and family life.
He believed that his wife’s mind was being poisoned against him by her family. And that Chris Hutcheson would stop at nothing, up to and including taking Tana and the children away from him.
After two years of frustration and growing suspicion — the suspicions that had resulted in Hutcheson’s sacking and the difficult family dynamic — matters reached a crux on Monday, Gordon’s 44th birthday.
Ramsay says he thought they were over the worst — and then Tana received a letter from her mother.
‘Chris’s away days became more of a permanent fixture.’
The letter said: ‘Tana, you are not welcome anywhere near our door. I cannot believe that you have done this to your father. Until you dispose of that man, you are not welcome back.’
‘Basically, she was saying, get rid of Gordon. Get rid of me. That was the thing that tipped me over the edge,’ says Ramsay, who is in New York filming Kitchen Nightmares.
Indeed, since Hutcheson’s sacking, the chef had become increasingly worried that Tana was being put under pressure from her family to leave him, particularly when he was out of the country on business.
So no, Ramsay does not regret the open letter sent to the newspaper. On the contrary, he feels he had to do something drastic to stop the rot.
‘My back was turned and they were jumping on Tana, using her as a target to manipulate and poison. Hoping she would just lift up the kids — my four children! — and jump in with them. And ha
ng me out to dry because I had sacked her father.
‘So it was becoming harder for me to do nothing. I was screaming inside: ‘‘Hey guys, this is an argument between Chris and me. Now you are trying to get personal with this. There is no way on earth you are going to start fragmenting my family.’’
‘But they saw the weak point. They hoped to break down Tana, convince her that this is the right way. I don’t know any other guy, any husband or father, who would stand there and take those blows on a daily basis.’
Harsh reality: Gordon Ramsay, appearing in one of his many publicity shots for his TV shows, realised he had to take stock of his empire
Harsh reality: Gordon Ramsay, appearing in one of his many publicity shots for his TV shows, realised he had to take stock of his empire
How did it get to this stage? From the outside, the row looks like an eruption of egos: two old stags clashing under the pressure of a business that has suffered, like any other, in the economic downturn.
Yet today, Ramsay reveals that the saga stretches back almost three years. He believes that his relationship with chefs such as Marcus Wareing and Jason Atherton would never have soured if Hutcheson had not been so bullish and greedy in dealing with them.
He is appalled at some of the business dealings he has uncovered. And his concerns about Hutcheson’s behaviour, on a personal and professional level, stretch back a long way.
‘His level of concentration. His excuses for disappearing. All matters for concern. ‘‘Where is Chris?’’ I would ask and be told he was in Paris for three days, sorting out the restaurant. Funny, I would think. We have already done that.
‘Then I would ring up Paris and say: ‘‘Can I speak to Chris? I hear he is there for the weekend.’’ Only to be told that Chris hadn’t been there for six months.
‘The away days were becoming more of a permanent fixture and there was less focus on the hands- on approach that the business needed to lock it down, such as the York & Albany pub, which needed to be focused on.’
Central to part of Ramsay’s discomfort is the fact that his two brothers-in-law — and other people Ramsay calls Hutcheson’s ‘dependants’ — were profiting
from GRH in a way that the hard-working chef increasingly became uncomfortable with.
He walked into the company headquarters one day to discover that Adam Hutcheson — hired to help out with the pubs business — had been made the managing director of GRH.
Back to basics: Gordon Ramsay travelled to India to test the cuisine – but realised there were more important things to deal with at home
Back to basics: Gordon Ramsay travelled to India to test the cuisine – but realised there were more important things to deal with at home
Ramsay says no one had consulted him. ‘I don’t even have a desk in that office. And now here is Adam on a salary of £200,000. That is more than the prime minister gets paid — and the guy couldn’t even strike a deal buying a pub. And he is an MD!
‘His younger brother, Luke, lives in a flat owned by us. We lent him money to invest in properties. It was a huge success, but he never repaid anything back, not even the interest on the loan. I was screaming from the rooftops.’
As Gordon and I talk, it emerges that his father-in-law arrived unannounced at his Petrus restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge on Thursday, ordering the staff to report only to him. It is understood he told them: ‘I’m still the boss.’
I am told that Mr Hutcheson appointed himself as sole shareholder and director of the dining establishment in Kinnerton Street when he was still chief executive
of GRH.
‘I do feel betrayed, let down. In fact, I feel I have been let down twice. First, by my own father, who was not a great guide in life. Now by Chris.’
Ramsay says they had agreed to open the restaurant as a joint venture outside the main business — their stake in Petrus being equal (in GRH, 69 per cent is owned by Ramsay and the rest by Mr Hutcheson). It was only this week that Ramsay — who had left Mr Hutcheson to arrange the deal and set up a separate company to run Petrus — says he learned he was not listed as a director or shareholder of the restaurant.
He’s taking legal advice after Adam, 39, was installed a week ago as a Petrus director.
The registered address of the company has apparently been switched to Mr Hutcheson’s home in Mayfair.
One begins to understand why Ramsay is so upset. It is not just the business side of things, for he has also made a huge emotional investment in Chris Hutcheson.
Ramsay’s own father had been a wife-beating alcoholic and his early years had been difficult, to say the least. He was in his late 20s when he met Hutcheson and initially thought he had found a mentor he could trust and believe in.
‘I do feel betrayed, let down. In fact, I feel I have been let down twice. First, by my own father, who was not a great guide in life. Now by Chris.
‘When you find a guy who is powerful, a big father figure, you latch onto h
im immediately. I didn’t question him.
‘Twelve years ago, he was a perfect iceberg for me to step onto. In many ways, he filled a huge void in my life. And everyone got on with him. I wanted to be guided — but over the years his control became overbearing.’
Fierce fallout: Ramsay with contestants in his show ‘The F Word’ – no doubt expletives have been exchanged in his very public family fallout
Fierce fallout: Ramsay with contestants in his show ‘The F Word’ – no doubt expletives have been exchanged in his very public family fallout
This even extended to controlling the family and the purse strings in such a way that Gordon and Tana, who recently wanted to buy a home in Scotland, could not do so without clearance from Hutcheson.
‘It was so claustrophobic,’ says Ramsay, who now feels nothing but relief, despite the tears and difficulties.
Their lives have changed for ever, but he feels his marriage is stronger — even though Tana still does not know everything about her father.
‘She is certainly getting up to speed — and that is a little scary. She knows about 90 per cent. She has been shocked. She struggled. It is a big blow. She had this perfect image of her daddy and it is not there.
‘However, it has made our marriage stronger and our minds much clearer. I wake up in the morning and this dictator who was planning out my life for the next four years has gone. I don’t want to commit to opening 40 restaurants in the next four years. I want to consolidate.
‘And Tana and I have never been stronger. The more s*** the family throw at her makes us stronger.
She understands the bigger picture now.’
Earlier this summer, Tana had even tried to mediate between the two men, arranging a meeting at the company HQ to try to patch up things between them. It ended in tears (hers) and rows (theirs).
‘It’s not that easy. Jesus, where did that money go? I’m talking about pretty substantial figures. Into millions.
‘The more venom they throw at Tana, the stronger we get.’
It wasn’t quite right. I was working harder. Putting it all in. Everything, from TV money to book money to restaurant money, goes into the one central pot. Then all of a sudden when I was due a big pay cheque from the pot, it would be: ‘‘Well, you’ve got this bill and that bill.’’ But I thought that was paid? ‘‘No, it hasn’t been.’’
‘Then, excuse after excuse, he was withholding payments. That’s when I started digging deeper. Even when we sat down for a board meeting we never had a strategy. It was all done on trust and a grabbed phone call here and there. Put it this way, everyone was taking from the pot — no one was putting back in, apart from me.’
Throughout our conversation, Ramsay sounds calm, collected. A little regretful perhaps, but his usual confident and robust self.
Unity: Gordon is adamant that the more abuse is levelled at him, the stronger his relationship with wife Tana becomes
Unity: Gordon is adamant that the more abuse is levelled at him, the stronger his relationship with wife Tana becomes
There is, he says, a lot more ‘stuff to unravel’ and much darkness to unspool at the heart of the splintered empire.
Yet Ramsay states the core business is solid and in profit — and that he is looking forward to the future.
There is sadness, of course, that his family has been dragged through the mud, in the process suffering wounds that might take years to heal.
The other day, his ten-year-old son Jack asked him: ‘Dad, has Grandad gone?’ And Ramsay had to tell him, no, he had just decided ‘not to talk to Daddy’.
The children find it hard to understand what has happened — and Ramsay, too, perhaps. He has a theory that Hutcheson became too ‘comfortable’ instead of still fighting for the business.
Ramsay found himself wondering why he was at big bank meetings — one to ask RBS for a short-term loan of £2 million — and his CEO wasn’t. And, of course, there are some things that will never be forgiven.
‘I mean, portraying me as a monster? It is total baloney. You know how fiery I am. I am what I am. A fighter. I came up from a difficult background.
‘I wasn’t expecting Chris Hutcheson to shake my hand and ask me out for a beer over being sacked, but at the same time . . . Tana bawling. Her mum saying she was welcome back without me. My mum on the phone crying about the drugs. I am as clean as a whistle. I mean, of course I had mood swings. I was so frustrated.’
In the end, Ramsay believes that Hutcheson and his dependants have done him wrong.
‘Hand on heart,’ he says, ‘they abused their situation.’
