Gordon with wife Tana
For those who are not so familiar with this story, celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay fired his business partner of 12 years several weeks ago, after a huge argument. Gordon’s now former business partner Chris Hutcheson is also his father-in-law.
As you can imagine this has caused a huge family rift and Gordon has foolishly sent an open letter to his mother-in-law Greta which was published in yesterday’s Evening Standard.
Gordon says he wrote the letter in response to Greta’s letter to her daughter (his wife) Tana asking that she stay away from her family.
The Kitchen Nightmares star wrote,
Dear Mother in Law,
This has to be one of the most painful letters I’ve ever had to write. Listening to Tana in floods of tears reading your letter from you asking that she stays away from her family is so awfully wrong.
Removing my father in law from my business has been the hardest and most important decision in my entire life. For a decade, his manipulation and controlling of so many lives has finally come to an end.
Chris recently suggested my mood swings were down to involvement with drugs; my god did that hurt. How dare he ever suggest this on the back of my frustration and dealings with my younger brother and his addiction.
To curb my suspicions, I employed a private detective and the situation started to unravel very quickly. The very complex life that Chris leads, has seen many of my key staff feeling they have had to cover on his behalf. His away days were rarely what I thought they were. But beyond that, one of my biggest concerns was the business: signing huge contracts in my name and furthermore discovering emails were being looked at.The office became stifled and the air of relief at Gordon Ramsay Holdings, knowing that we don’t need to pretend any longer, is a breath of fresh air.
Three weeks ago today when I met with my team to explain the situation, you could instantly see the relief and joy on their faces. His role as CEO of Gordon Ramsay holdings in the end felt like he was running the business as a dictator.
My relationship with my chefs has been, and always will be, amazing. To see them, as individuals chefs, flourish and having now made their way to some of the most prominent chefs in the country, gives me nothing but pride and joy.
The creative chefs we turned into partners, the harder they worked, the more profit they generated, but when they requested a share of the profits, their departure was seemingly imminent, something I wasn’t comfortable with.
I know how hard this must be for you Greta, and I’m not expecting a birthday card today, but your punishing your daughter and our four children, for all the wrong reasons, it’s so sad. She’s an amazing woman and you’ve been a fantastic mum – please don’t stop!
Going public with this letter isn’t going to mend fences Gordon. You have just made matters worse for your wife by sending this open letter (instead of sending it directly to your mother-in-law via Royal Mail) and practically throwing your father in law under a bus by writing this , ‘To curb my suspicions, I employed a private detective and the situation started to unravel very quickly. The very complex life that Chris leads, has seen many of my key staff feeling they have had to cover on his behalf. His away days were rarely what I thought they were.
If you had spent more time concentrating on the running of your now struggling businesses, and less time believing your own hype and focusing on your various TV projects, then perhaps all this drama might have been avoided.
