Amanda Barrie has reignited her feud with Gordon Ramsay, branding the celebrity chef “a vicious bully” more than twenty years after their explosive showdown on Hell’s Kitchen.
The 89-year-old former Coronation Street actress, best known for playing Alma Baldwin on the ITV soap, opens up about the infamous altercation in her new memoir I’m Still Here: My 90 Years.
Back in 2004, Amanda appeared on the American edition of Hell’s Kitchen, where her relationship with Ramsay quickly turned sour. The tension boiled over on-air when she famously slapped him in a moment of pure frustration.
Reflecting on the incident, Amanda says it was the result of “a long build-up” of emotions. She accuses Ramsay of creating an atmosphere designed to “insult and humiliate” the contestants, insisting that “we all knew the show was a vehicle for Gordon, but not that he was going to take every opportunity to insult and humiliate us.”
She goes further in her memoir, likening Ramsay to Donald Trump, claiming “they are both bullies.” She describes the chef as “vicious” and says contestants were left suffering “psychological issues” because of his relentless tirades. According to Amanda, when the bullying became unbearable, she “finally cracked and launched herself at him.”
Mocking Ramsay for calling security during the incident, Amanda recalls: “I have never seen a face that was asking more to be slapped.”
The timing of her explosive claims coincides with ITV’s plans to reboot Hell’s Kitchen in the UK, with Ramsay once again fronting the show. His foul-mouthed rants and savage put-downs remain viral social media fodder, and his US version of the series has now been running for two decades.
