There's nothing quite like turning on a cooking show and hearing the soothing sounds of Gordon
Ramsay screaming at a befuddled chef.
One of Ramsay's most popular profanity-riddled shows was Kitchen Nightmares, where the hot-tempered
Scottish chef helped struggling restaurants mainly by shouting at them about fresh produce
and frozen appetizers.
By the end of each episode, the restaurant's inedible food and sub-par service were usually
transformed and saved from extinction at least temporarily.
Even though it went off the air in 2014, there are still plenty of behind-the-scenes secrets
that you probably never knew about the popular restaurant makeover show.
Here's the untold truth of FOX's Kitchen Nightmares.
The nightmare's over
Although Ramsay spent a glorious six-and-a-half seasons transforming restaurants from one-star
duds into passable eateries, apparently his professional magic wore off quickly.
In 2014, shortly after Kitchen Nightmares ended, The Daily Mail reported that 60 percent
of the restaurants that appeared on the show had closed.
A spokesperson for Ramsay said at the time,
"You don't ask to take part in a show called Kitchen Nightmares if your restaurant business
is booming and therefore it is not surprising that many of the restaurants which Gordon
has visited over the ten years are now closed."
As of 2018, only 15 out of the 77 that appeared on the show between 2007 and 2014 are still
open.
The unluckiest restaurant
While most of the restaurants didn't exactly go on to have successful runs, some of the
restaurants fared worse than others.
According to The Daily Mail, one restaurant The Black Pearl in New York actually closed
just four days after their episode aired.
"Homarus americanus, same animal, right?
… Humanus americanus My Ass-us."
But Lela's , in Pomona, California, takes the cake they closed before viewers even saw
the episode.
According to Screen Rant, the restaurant already faced struggles before Ramsay got in the door,
and was facing bankruptcy after only eight months in the business.
After the episode was over, a message flashed on viewers' screens saying,
"The restaurant's debts were too much and it closed."
"Ruined" restaurant
Although many of the restaurants featured on the show were happy to receive Ramsay's
help, one chef in particular didn't mince words when it came to criticizing the changes
the chef and his team made.
Season 6's John Chapman, the owner of Chappy's on Church, told The National Enquirer,
"It was truly a kitchen nightmare for me.
Gordon Ramsay destroyed my business!"
"It looks like Chappy took a crappy in my gumbo."
Chapman said that Ramsay redid the entire menu, and that business subsequently went
from about 200 customers a night to a mere table of patrons per evening.
Chappy's on Church closed in June 2013 for nonpayment of taxes, only a month after the
episode aired.
Not staged
The "Amy's Baking Company" episode of Kitchen Nightmares is probably the most infamous in
the show's history, and the conflict was so severe that the crew didn't even get to complete
their transformation.
The owners of the now-closed eatery were notorious for threatening customers who left bad Yelp
reviews and for posting long rants on social media.
"You are a little pansy, get out of here, don't you ever come back here.
You little weenie, keep walking."
Apparently, the drama in the episode wasn't heightened for entertainment purposes, either.
One Medium blogger who was there during the filming of the two-part episode said,
"[The] epic blowouts were 100% true to form and not doctored for TV."
"I am going to really hurt somebody if they send back my cakes."
Real Ramsay
Ramsay may be infamous for his nightmarish behavior on his shows, but apparently most
of his on-air tantrums and profanity-laced rants are hammed up for the camera.
"You work like a pig.
You French Pig!"
According to one of the show's crew members who did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit in 2013,
you'll rarely see Ramsay get angry when the cameras are turned off.
The crew member explained,
"He only gets mad when he has a reason to, otherwise he's a very funny and nice dude.
You can even see that in all of his UK shows.
The US versions like to selectively edit to play up drama."
Additionally, Ramsay may not actually be as involved with the participants as you'd think.
One couple, who appeared on the show in season three, told The New Jersey Record in 2010
that they barely conversed with the chef at all, saying,
"You have no interaction with Ramsay at all.
He comes with a very big machine of assistants and helpers.
The only time that I ever spent any time with him was on camera."
Ramsay's regret
If you're a Kitchen Nightmares superfan who misses the show, Ramsay feels your pain.
The popular show that launched Ramsay's TV career ended in 2014 in part because Ramsay
was tired of the restaurants he fixed reverting back to their old ways and failing.
He told The New York Daily News in 2017,
"I got fed up with Kitchen Nightmares because I was getting s---.
So I woke up one morning and I thought 'f--- it, I'm done.'"
He added his remorse at the decision to pull his show off the air, which was admittedly
made in anger, saying,
"Yes it was wrong to pull my own show off air, but that's it."
The good news?
Fans don't need to rely on old reruns to catch glimpses of their favorite restaurant makeover
show Kitchen Nightmares is back in a new form.
Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell & Back premiered on FOX in June 2018.