Ramsay's mum denies making him 'say sorry'

Ramsay's mum denies making him 'say sorry' (Image credit: PA Photos USA)

Gordon Ramsay's mother has denied that she had ordered her son to apologise for labelling a female Australian TV host 'a pig'. TV chef Gordon, famous for his foul-mouthed rants, apologised to Tracey Grimshaw on the nation's ABC television station for likening her to a pig at a food fair in front of an audience of thousands. Gordon later said he was 'deeply deeply' sorry for his comments and claimed his mum had given him a 'b******' for his outburst. But speaking outside her home in Taunton, Somerset, on Wednesday, Gordon's mum Helen Cosgrove denied she had reprimanded her son. In fact, Helen said she hadn't spoken to her son since Saturday - before the row erupted - and only knew about it after reading newspaper reports. She told the Daily Mail: "I haven't spoken to Gordon since the weekend. He calls me every Saturday for a chat. "But I certainly didn't tell him off about what he did in Australia. "I have read about it in the papers and I think he got angry with the lady because she said something about his wife. "But I won't be speaking to him until this Saturday." Gordon was branded a 'lowlife' by Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd over the comments he made about Tracey.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.