Gordon Ramsay Axed from UK Hell's Kitchen 10/12/06

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has been replaced by his mentor on the original UK version of Hell's Kitchen.

Marco Pierre White trained a young Ramsay and has claimed the outspoken culinary expert even adopted his trademark swearing outbursts - and bosses at network ITV1 believe he is the man to inject fresh energy into the show, reports British newspaper the Daily Star.

Ramsay, who is currently starring in an American edition of Hell's Kitchen, is typically unfazed by the news: "I couldn't give a s**t."

(This is the BBC version. He is definitely back for season 3 of the US version.)

I just got back from a 3-day visit to Red Rock in Vegas. The restaurants in the hotel are arranged around the outer walls of the casino itself. My wife and I did a few walk-bys to check out the menus. When we walked by Terra Rosso, we saw Heather standing out front, talking to some of the wait staff. She has definitely changed her looks ... gone is the short blonde hair, replaced with long, straight jet-black locks. Took us a moment to recognize her ...

That said - the menu didn't look all that great. We ended up eating at the Grand Cafe one night, and had lunch at the Rubio's in the food court a couple of times.

Thanks for the observations. I'm usually curious what actually happens with these kind of winners vs. the hype that gets played up during the show. At least she actually appeared to be working there.

BTW, was she red-faced-lip-quivering-crying when you saw her?

Did you get a chance to stop by and see Virginia at the strip club down the street?

She was showing off some dance moves while laughing it up with the staff ...

No - but that would definitely be on my must-see list when I go back next time

So what was the reason Ramsay was fired from his BBC show? Maybe overexposure? Didn't he just start another cooking show there?

Gordon Ramsay's F Word is airing on BBC America, Sunday nights at 9.

Not sure. Maybe one series of Hell's Kitchen (US version) per year is enough for him. And yes, The F Word just completed series 2 earlier this year.

But it is also very interesting that Marco Pierre White is his replacement.

Marco Pierre White was the youngest chef in the world and the first Briton to be awarded three Michelin stars. He trained Ramsay, and was known as quite the tyrant. So, in a sense, he was the original Ramsay. White has also been very derogatory in the past towards "celebrity" chefs. He retired from the kitchen in 1999.

So they lose (or drop) Ramsay, and get the man who trained him. A man who was retired from cooking and scoffed at TV chefs, but who is now picking up the scraps of his famous protégé celebrity chef. But ITV gets the reclusive legend who trained the current master.

I'm not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg in this.