This new Gordon Ramsay documentary looks like an absolute must-watch
He's venturing away from cooking shows
If you were flicking through the channels, and saw a show called Gordon Ramsay on Cocaine, you would put it on, wouldn’t you?
Unfortunately, as you’ve probably already realised, the show is not an hour’s worth of Rambo doing lines off his kitchen worktop and shouting down the camera, but rather a two-part documentary in which the chef will delve into the world of cocaine, from the source to the nostril, to try and understand the obsession with it.
The ITV show, which airs in just two weeks, will see Ramsay travel to South America to meet those who turn cocoa plants into the class-A substance, and also speak to scientists and users back on home shores, in a comprehensive investigation into one of the world’s most popular drugs.
Ramsay has a particular interest in coke, because of a tragic story in his culinary past.
“I’ve wanted to understand the ‘world’ of cocaine ever since I lost one of my chefs at my flagship restaurant in Chelsea and I wanted to learn why it’s becoming such an epidemic - not just globally but specifically in the culinary world,” he said.
“I dare anyone to watch this series and not think again about taking cocaine.”
Ramsay, some lab dudes, and a whole lotta drugs
Chefs are notorious for being into cocaine, due to the high-pressure, full-on nature of their jobs, and the need to sometimes prop yourself up with artificial energy.
Ramsay admits that he has been in contact with the drug many times in his past, telling Digital Spy: “I saw cocaine quite early on in my career. I’ve been served it. I’ve been given it.
“I’ve had my hand shaken and left with little wraps of foil in it. I’ve been asked to dust cocaine on top of soufflés, to put it on as icing sugar… coke’s everywhere. It’s spiralling out of control.
“With soaring cocaine deaths in Britain and along the coke supply chain, I’m determined to understand the criminal business behind this deadly drug.”
Ramsay is probably more of a celebrity than he is a chef these days
According to the World Drug Report of 2014, Ramsay’s home nation of Scotland has the highest percentage of cocaine users in the entire world - 2.4% of the population aged 15-64 admitted having taken it in the past year.
The US is second with 2.3%, while England and Wales are in fourth with 1.9% - roughly one person on very 20 admitting having used it.
Interestingly, Colombia, which is the world’s biggest producer of cocaine, is way down the list. Just 0.8% of its population admitted taking coke in the past year.
Ramsay’s documentary will are as part of ITV’s ‘Crime & Punishment’ season, which also includes documentaries from the likes of Piers Morgan - on female murderers - and Ross Kemp, who takes an inside look at life in prison.
Gordon Ramsay on Cocaine will air Thursday 19 October at 9pm on ITV.
(Images: ITV / Rex)
