Gordon Ramsay Says He’s a ‘Better Dad’ to His Youngest Kids
By Movieguide® Contributor
Chef Gordon Ramsay says his parenting experience with his older kids has made him “a better dad” to his youngest children.
“I think I’m a better dad this time round if I’m honest,” Ramsay told PEOPLE. “I know I’m better because I’ve got experience now and so I think we’ve done a good job so far with the first four.”
Ramsay shares six kids with wife Tana — Megan, 25, twins Jack and Holly, 24, Matilda “Tilly,” 22, Oscar, 5, and Jesse, 6 months.
“The second part of this family, with the other two little ones, I think they’re in a great position because they’re getting educated a lot earlier from their bigger, older siblings, and they’re fascinated with their careers,” he said.
Ramsay continued, “Oscar understands what a police officer does now because his big sister is one, and then he’s still trying to put Jack’s Green Beret on. He has his Royal Marine commando hoodies that he wants to wear to school and I’m trying to tell him it’s not part of the school uniform. So as a 5-year-old, he’s picking up the importance of working and career wise. It’s pretty incredible.”
Ramsay is known for being a particularly tough critic on cooking reality competition shows like MASTERCHEF and KITCHEN NIGHTMARES but says he’s “a big softie” when it comes to his kids, due to his own personal experiences.
“Growing up, I never had a father figure,” he explained. “Everything I was witnessing at the time was from an alcoholic father, so I knew I had to take the opposite.”
In a piece he wrote for CNN, Ramsay shared, “To this day, I will never understand why mum stayed with him. She deserved so much better and so much more; it still pains me to remember how badly he treated her. I have four young children of my own, and I could never see myself behaving the way my father did when I was a child. I want to be a role model for my children and have them look up to me.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Ramsay’s relationship with his kids:
Gordon Ramsay and his daughter Tilly have teamed up on a cooking show for the first time.
“The duo will appear on MASTERCHEF JUNIOR, which returns on Monday night,” PEOPLE reported. “The FOX cooking competition’s 9th season sees Tilly, 22, join on as a full-time judge for the first time. Gordon continues hosting and Aarón Sánchez and Daphne Oz return as judges.”
“We laugh, he makes me laugh all the time. We annoy each other, don’t get me wrong. We tease each other constantly,” Tilly said of her time with her dad on set.
“We’d commute home together. The car journeys home in the evening were lovely. We’d just chat about everything about the day,” she added. It’s just such a nice thing to do with him, spend that time together.”