The F Word (also called Gordon Ramsay's F Word) is a British cookery programme featuring chef Gordon Ramsay. The programme covers a wide range of topics, from recipes to food preparation and celebrity food fads. The programme was made by Optomen Television and aired weekly on Channel 4. The theme tune for the series is "The F-Word" from the Babybird album Bugged.
Programme segments
Each episode is based around Ramsay preparing a three-course meal at the F Word restaurant for 50 guests. Diners in the restaurant include celebrities, who participate in conversations, challenges, and cook-offs with Ramsay. Other segments focus on food-related topics such as alternative foods, visits by Ramsay to help people focus on healthy cooking and eating (some visits include taking on the occupations at the workplaces he visits), and even Ramsay himself demonstrating recipes of the courses to the home viewers. Finally, there was a series-long feature on home-reared livestock or poultry that was ultimately served to F Word diners on the series finale.
Series 1 The first series is based around the "Get Women Back in the Kitchen" campaign where Ramsay visited several English households to help women who wanted to improve their culinary skills. The Timess restaurant critic Giles Coren and food writer Rachel Cooke acted as field correspondents who presented reports on unique food fads and healthy eating respectively. Two or three commis (picked from a thousand applicants) squared off in each episode to earn a position at one of Ramsay's restaurants. Ramsay raised turkeys in his garden, so that his children gained a better understanding of where their food came from. Chef and television presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall regularly offered tips on raising free range turkeys. The turkeys were named after other celebrity chefs, for example, Ainsley, Antony, Jamie, Delia, Gary and Nigella. The pudding (dessert) challenge regularly pitted Ramsay with a celebrity guest, with the winner having the honour of serving his or her pudding to the guests at the F-Word restaurant.
Series 2 The series theme emphasises the importance of Sunday lunch, with Ramsay teaching families how to prepare this meal on a regular basis. From the second series onward, the restaurant had 50 paying diners served by an amateur brigade. If guests found any of their food unsatisfactory, they could choose not to pay for that item. Janet Street-Porter became the series' regular field correspondent; Giles Coren only appeared in a one-off segment on the Pimp That Snack website and phenomenon. The celebrity pudding challenge was changed to a general cooking challenge, while Ramsay raised pigs in his garden, which he named Trinny and Susannah. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall returned to offer advice on raising the pigs. Unlike Series 1, the second series of the show was usually transmitted after the 9pm watershed, meaning that Ramsay's infamous bad language was no longer bleeped out.
Series 3 This series ran a campaign stating that "Fast food doesn't have to mean junk food", with Ramsay showing people how to prepare a simple supper in under 30 minutes, without having to order takeaways or rely on frozen meals or other convenience food. The best weekly amateur brigade was rewarded with the prestige of cooking at Ramsay's restaurant at Claridge's in the series finale. Ramsay home-reared a pair of Charollais-Welsh lambs, named Charlotte and Gavin. There was also a series-long search for a new "Fanny Cradock" which culminated in the selection of Ravinder Bhogal.
Series 4 This series' weekly amateur brigade featured a celebrity and their relatives. Janet Street-Porter took on the responsibility of rearing veal calves nicknamed Elton and David in a North Yorkshire farm. Food columnist Tom Parker Bowles appeared on two episodes. In his first appearance, he visited Sardinia to sample casu marzu, a local cheese containing maggots. On his second stint, he attempted to cook a whole pig.
Series 5 A fifth series premiered on 3 November 2009 on Channel 4. The series focused on a search for "Britain's best local restaurant". 10,000 nominations were narrowed down to 18 restaurant finalists representing nine different cuisines. The second round involved the finalists serving their signature dishes to a panel of diners at their own establishments, followed by a semi-final cook-off at Ramsay's flagship restaurant at Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea.
American version
On 30 September 2016, Fox announced that The F Word would go to the United States sometime in 2017. On 3 February 2017, it was announced that it would air for the summer. Each installment of the series will be presented live and will feature surprise guests and VIPs as well as foodie families from across the U.S. battling in cook-offs.
The series premiered on 31 May 2017 on Fox.
Episode guide
Series 1 No. Celebrity guest Guest cook-off Original U.K. air date1Al Murray and Martine McCutcheonGordon loses27 Oct 052Joan Collins and Helen CosgroveGordon wins3 Nov 053Christopher ParkerGordon wins10 Nov 054Rachel CookeCommis chefs compete17 Nov 055Jonathan Ross and Gary RhodesGordon loses24 Nov 056Richard Wilson, Nancy Dell'Olio, Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzieGordon loses1 Dec 057Jimmy Carr, Sarah Beeny and Davina McCallGordon loses8 Dec 058Colin Jackson, Martine McCutcheon and Janet Street-PorterGordon loses15 Dec 059Sharon Osbourne and Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallGordon loses21 Dec 05
Series 2 No. Celebrity guest Guest cook-off Kitchen brigade Brigade score (out of 150) Original U.K. air date1Kathy Burke and Angela GriffinGordon losesThe Butchers11221 Jun 062Cliff Richard and Janet Street-PorterGordon losesThe Essex Boys11728 Jun 063Darren Gough and Jeremy ClarksonGordon winsThe PR Girls465 Jul 064Dermot O'Leary and Janet Street-PorterGordon losesThe Bolton Boys9412 Jul 065John Humphreys and Dean LennoxGordon winsThe Doctors12819 Jul 066Michelle Collins and Jonathan RossGordon winsThe Students8326 Jul 067Nick Knowles and Jessie WallaceGordon winsThe Adams Family1112 Aug 068John ThomsonGordon winsThe Farmer's Daughters1209 Aug 069Janet Street-Porter, David Walliams and Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallDraw between Gordon and JanetThe Doctors14916 Aug 06
Series 3 No. Celebrity guest Guest cook-off Kitchen brigade Brigade score (out of 150) Original U.K. air date1Dawn French and Natasha KaplinskyGordon WinsThe Eton Boys1058 May 072Ronnie Corbett and Girls AloudGordon LosesThe Firemen9615 May 073James May and Denise Van OutenGordon LosesThe Lancashire Lasses12622 May 074Alex James and David GestGordon WinsThe Eastenders9629 May 075Chris Moyles and Meera SyalGordon WinsThe Estate Agents625 Jun 076Ian Botham and Dom JolyGordon LosesThe Desperate Housewives10912 Jun 077Jonathan Ross and Sara CoxGordon WinsThe Police11119 Jun 078Gok Wan and Cat DeeleyGordon WinsThe Army Boys7526 Jun 079Ricky Gervais and Johnny VegasGordon WinsThe Lancashire Lasses1443 Jul 07
Series 4 No. Celebrity guest Guest cook-off Kitchen brigade Brigade score (out of 150) Original U.K. air date1Wendi Peters, James Corden and Geri HalliwellGordon WinsThe Peters Family12913 May 082Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Kate GarrawayGordon WinsThe Guru-Murthy Family10120 May 083McFly and Ben MillerGordon LosesThe McFly Brigade11527 May 084Melanie Blatt, Liam Gallagher, Nicole Appleton and David BlunkettGordon WinsThe Appleton-Blatts1363 Jun 085Paddy McGuinness, Dara Ó Briain and JameliaGordon WinsThe McGuiness Brigade12110 Jun 086Neneh Cherry, Andrea Oliver, John Prescott, Tom Parker Bowles and Dannii MinogueGordon WinsThe Cherry-Olivers11717 Jun 087Angela Griffin and Meat LoafGordon WinsThe Griffins12824 Jun 088Matt Dawson, Joanne Salley, Edith Bowman, Dizzee Rascal and Tom Parker BowlesGordon LosesThe Dawsons1071 Jul 089Mica Paris, Harry Enfield and Jo BrandGordon WinsThe Paris Family1248 Jul 0810Christopher Biggins, Jessica Hynes and Rob BrydonGordon WinsThe Biggins Family8915 Jul 0811Jon Snow, Erin O'Connor, Jade Jones and Emma BuntonGordon WinsThe Bunton Family12022 Jul 0812Melanie Blatt, Nicole Appleton and Graham NortonGordon WinsThe Appleton-Blatts13529 Jul 08
Series 5 No. Celebrity guest Guest cook-off Competing Restaurants Original U.K. air date1Katie PriceGordon Wins Salvo's (73/100) vs Prosecco (71/100)3 Nov 092Lenny HenryGordon Wins Lasan (76/100) vs Curry Corner (64/100)10 Nov 093nonenone French Table (65/100) vs Bouchon Bistro (72/100)17 Nov 094nonenone Chop Chop (62/100) vs Sweet Mandarin (82/100)24 Nov 095Rory BremnerGordon Wins Simply Thai (82/100) vs Yum Yum (62/100)1 Dec 096Kelly BrookGordon Loses El Gato Negro (74/100) vs Lola Rojo (61/100)8 Dec 097Ian WrightGordon Wins Santa Maria del Sur 86/100) vs Discovery Bay (75/100)15 Dec 098Dita Von Teese and Peter AndreGordon Wins The Pheasant (80/100) vs The Swan (79/100)22 Dec 099Johnny Vaughan, Kate Silverton, and Fay RipleyGordon beats Kate but loses to Johnny and Fay Retsina (77/100) vs Doukan (63/100)29 Dec 0910nonenone Lasan vs Sweet Mandarin vs Santa Maria del Sur 5 Jan 1011nonenone The Pheasant vs Simply Thai vs Retsina 6 Jan 1012nonenone Lasan (Win) vs The Pheasant (Loss)7 Jan 10
International broadcasters The show has been broadcast around the world including the following countries:
Country BroadcasterFilm&Artsi-Sat7TWONine Network7TWO Schedule BBC CanadaFood Network CanadaCasaPrima LoveJimMTV3Skai TVAsia TVPaprika TVTV3Rai 5RTL 4TV OneVOXLifestyle NetworkBBC LifestyleSic RadicalCasaBBC LifestyleDong-a TVKanal 5BBC AmericaFOX In South Korea, the show was renamed Cook-King.Cook-King Ramsay(Promo page) (Korean), Dong-ah TV, Retrieved on 3 August 2007
Controversy and criticism
Women in the kitchen A major component of series 1 was Ramsay's "Get Women Back in the Kitchen" campaign. In a self-administered survey, he found that three-quarters of women could not cook, with some 78% never cooking a regular evening dinner. Ramsay's findings were met with mixed reactions. While some of his contemporaries, like Nigella Lawson, previously stated similar opinions, other celebrity chefs, like Clarissa Dickson Wright, felt Ramsay's proposition was "rubbish and about ten years out of date".Innes, John "Saucy Ramsay pans female chefs", The Scotsman, 24 October 2005 Wright felt that these comments undermined the increased enrollment of women at culinary schools across the United Kingdom. It was claimed that his desire was to help women who want to be able to cook but lack the confidence or motivation.
Animal slaughter The second-to-last episode of the first series featured the slaughter of six turkeys that were raised in Ramsay's garden. The scene had been preceded with a content warning. 27 viewers complained about the slaughter, leading to an investigation by Ofcom. Conversely, the media watchdog and Channel 4 also received 18 letters of support to counter the complaints. In 2004, Ramsay had also been criticised by the broadcast watchdog for swearing on-air. In the second series, viewers also saw the slaughter of his two pigs, which were raised throughout the series. They were taken to an abattoir and their brains stunned with an electric shock before being slaughtered.Adams, Guy "Ramsay reduced to tears as pigs go under knife", The Independent, 9 August 2006 A few months earlier, another Channel 4 series, Jamie's Great Italian Escape (featuring Jamie Oliver) also received similar complaints after it featured the slaughter of a lamb. Similarly the lambs he kept were slaughtered at the end of series three. Warnings were given to viewers before the start of the programme explaining the graphic nature of the footage, there was no censoring of the death or evisceration of the animal.