The TV chef struggled to recover from a bike accident in the Summer but is now back on his bike. He is risking it all financially with new restaurant plans
Gordon Ramsay has revealed his “really bad” cycling accident in the US in June left him unable to dress himself and feeling like a “f**king 95-year-old”.
The 57-year-old TV chef previously admitted he looked like a “purple potato” but showed he had bounced back by posing in Men’s Health UK topless.
Recalling the horror fall which left him with huge bruising, he said: “I couldn’t even put my f***king socks and pants on. Justin [Mandel, his assistant], he used to dress me in the morning. I felt like a f***ing 95-year-old man. Asking a 30-year-old kid to put my f***ing underpants on was embarrassing.”
In June Ramsay posted a video on social media where he lifted his chef’s whites to show substantial purple bruising on his torso for which he required hospital treatment following the accident in Connecticut.
Addressing the message to “all the dads out there” ahead of Father’s Day, the star of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen stressed the importance of wearing a helmet.
“I don’t care how short the journey is,” he said, adding that the guidance becomes even more important when it comes to cycling with children – “they’ve got to wear a helmet”.
“I want to wish you all a happy Father’s Day, but please, please, please wear a helmet. If I didn’t, honestly, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Ramsay has been a keen cyclist and runner for decades, regularly taking part in the London Marathon in the past.
Asked why he finds fitness relaxing he said: “I think about the pace I work and the responsibilities I take on, then I think about the drive that I have; fitness is the foundation. You’re on your own, up a mountain, on a bike, trail, run, swim. I find training relaxing because it just gets me out of that fast lane.”
Ramsay who finances have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent years also claimed his “balls were back in the vice” with his new restaurant venture in London.
He explained in the magazine: “I’ve got the biggest and the most daring and perhaps, I think, one of the most unique spots I’ve ever been given, and that’s 22 Bishopsgate. It’s going to be one of the tallest restaurants in Europe. There’s an academy opening there.
“There’s a restaurant called Ramsay at the very top. A beautiful Japanese open garden. It’s 35,000 square foot. It’s a 25 million pound investment. My balls are back in a vice again.”
On taking risks and not settling, he added: “I could sit back, put my feet up, buy a boat and f**k off to the Caribbean, but I have no interest in that. I love the jeopardy… and I can do that because I’m fit. I can do that because I’ve got the drive. When I haven’t got the drive, then I’ll decide to hang up the hat.”
In his latest set of accounts Ramsay’s restaurant empire tripled losses to £3.4m last year and spent millions of pounds on opening five new restaurants.
Some costs related to pre-opening costs for new restaurants including a Lucky Cat outlet in Manchester, a Bread Street Kitchen outlet in Battersea power station and a Street Pizza outlet in Edinburgh.
In May Ramsay said: “It’s been a really hard-fought year, but at the same time an exciting year, and in tough times it amazes me how strong and vibrant our industry is. It’s challenging out there and businesses are battling to stay afloat, rising costs, rent and food costs, multiple strikes. It’s a battle.
“However, I genuinely don’t think there’s been a year since I opened my first restaurant in 1998 where there has been so much passion and vibrancy in our industry.
“People still want to go out, break bread and have a good time together. We’ve still got something wonderful to celebrate and I truly believe the industry has never been so exciting.”
He insisted his upbringing may be one reason for his outlook on wealth. He told Men’s Health UK: “I started with nothing. I grew up with mum and dad not even owning their own house, so you don’t obsess over money, and you don’t get spoiled. I love luxury. I love cars, but f**k me, do I work hard for them.”
* The full interview can be read on the Men’s Health website now, or in the new issue on sale from 10 th September.
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