Gordon Ramsay became embroiled in a Twitter spat after food critic Jay Rayner accused the chef of making people cry on his TV shows.
Fiery chef Gordon's shouty and sweary style has proven popular with viewers down the years, but Jay, 55 - the son of late TV agony aunt Claire - clearly isn't a fan of the Hell's Kitchen star's latest BBC show Future Food Stars.
On the show, 12 contestants are put through their paces to show off their culinary skills in a bid to win a £150,000 investment from 55-year-old Gordon himself to help launch their food business.
But Jay, who is The One Show's food reporter and has appeared on MasterChef as a critic, decided to share his thoughts on Thursday night's fifth episode of the series when he posted a tweet accusing his TV rival of 'humiliating' his contestants.
Jay tweeted: "Is this still all you have @GordonRamsay? Shouting at people? Swearing at people? Humiliating people? Making people cry? Then punching the air when the cameras turns off?"
Minutes later, in a quote tweet posted on his own account, Gordon hit back: "Jay you inspire me every day… especially after your performance on the Weakest Link. Goodbye."
Refusing to back down, Jay went on to point out: "The first time I won it mate. The second time I came third. And neither time did I make anybody cry."
Gordon's huffy riposte was: "Jay your professional job is stuffing your face on the back of great chefs. When are you going to get a real job?? Goodbye."
Defending his vocation, Jay then replied: "My working life is a bit more complicated than that, Gordon love. I’m a writer, including of books.
"I’ve written all the books that have my name on them, for example. (Btw ‘professional job’ is a tautology. You can’t have a job which isn’t professional. Happy to help.)"
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic when many restaurants were being forced to close, Jay announced that he would be refraining from writing any negative reviews.
He wrote in The Guardian: "That doesn't mean giving good reviews to bad places, or not including criticisms.
"It just means that if I can't be generally positive, I won't review and will move on." He did, however, once slam London's Dorchester Hotel for charging £36 for a salad.
Several of Jay's followers on Twitter felt he got the upper hand in his altercation with Gordon, with one saying: "Loving this back and forth. Think Jay is out in front!
"But is an amateur golfer a profession? They get sponsored still so get an income but they are titled amateurs?"
Another added: "Referee. Stop the fight. Gordon's in no condition to continue," while a third declared: "Without critics you wouldn’t have them Michelin stars you cherish and bang on about so much.
"You need him more than he needs you. Plus you keep inviting food critics to your shows."
Some did offer support for Gordon, though, with one poster reasoning: "I think there’s a little more to GR’s working life than shouting and swearing, I think that was the point he was making, love," and another arguing: "Jay, you are coming off like a pompous wally, please stop."
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