What Tana Ramsay Thought Of Gordon When They First Met

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Restaurateur and reality show star Gordon Ramsay is one of the most successful celebrity chefs in the world. Would we consider him to be one of the most laid-back? Probably not. After all, Ramsay has cultivated an image around his brutal honesty and high expectations — his show's not called "Hell's Kitchen" for nothing. But first impressions — and public personas — aren't everything. Just ask his wife, Tana Ramsay. 

Gordon and Tana have been married since 1996 and have six children together. They welcomed their youngest, Jesse James Ramsay, in 2023. By any metric, they're total relationship goals, though they didn't quite start out that way. In Netflix's new docuseries, "Being Gordon Ramsay," Tana revealed what she first thought about her husband when they met in the early '90s. "I didn't like him. I thought he was really arrogant, really full of himself," she divulged. "He used to really irritate me" (via The Mirror).

When they met, Tana was actually dating a friend of Gordon's, while Gordon himself had a girlfriend. The chef, however, was smitten from the get-go. "Tana was driving the car, and I was sat in the back seat and I'm looking at my mate thinking, 'Oh my God, your girlfriend is f***ing gorgeous.' She looked like a young Julia Roberts, and she brought a level of excitement like no other," Gordon explained. Even so, he has no illusions about how she felt about him at first: "I get the feeling that she wasn't a big fan."

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Some of the best love stories start with a few bumps in the road, and Gordon and Tana Ramsay got there eventually. Speaking in the Netflix series, "Being Gordon Ramsay," Tana explained, "It took about a month, and then we were both single. We ended up chatting one night and chatted all night. I must have fancied him." Tana was impressed by Gordon's lofty goals in life. "The amazing ambition was there, absolute dedication. He's always been someone who dreams big, but he's just Gordon to me."

Tana has also described her husband as being "quite sensitive," a sentiment that might come as a surprise to those who watch the bristly restaurateur on TV. In an interview with People in 2023, the former Montessori schoolteacher and cookbook author said that while the six-time dad is still "riling everyone up," he has "gained more empathy" as he has gotten older. "Believe it or not, [Gordon is] incredibly sensitive — he's a crier," she shared.

Tana, for her part, has been known to keep the chef in check. Whether she's encouraging him to make healthy lifestyle changes or telling him if a professional project is a "great idea or a s**t one," Gordon says that his wife "doesn't hold back," which is what he needs. Sounds like they're truly a match made in heaven — or, "Hell's Kitchen."