Kitchen Nightmares Ending: Gordon Ramsay Decides to “Call It a Day.”

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay announced on his Website Monday morning that his show, Kitchen Nightmares, is coming to an end.

I’m currently filming 4 new episodes, Costa Del Nightmares, for Channel 4 which will be my last. I’ve had a phenomenal 10 years making 123 episodes, 12 seasons, shot across 2 continents, watched by tens of millions of people and sold to over 150 countries. It’s been a blast but it’s time to call it a day.

The show began in 2004 in the UK as Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares; its success spawned a US version, Kitchen Nightmares, that has run on the Fox Network since 2007.

The format of the show has been fairly straightforward: the owners of a failing restaurant would ask Gordon for help. With cameras rolling, Gordon would sample some dishes, meet with the staff, look around the building, and then point out the problems in the restaurant. Usually these problems included frozen (instead of fresh) food; poor building maintenance; poor sanitation procedures; and under-trained (or under-qualified) staff.

One thing that could always be counted on, in every episode, was clueless and/or obstinate owners. In the US edition of the show, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona, unwillingly became the embodiment of clueless restaurant owners following a very public meltdown after the show featuring their restaurant aired. Following the only episode of either the UK or US edition of Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon walked off the show in frustration, the owners took to the internet to give their side of the story. Unfortunately, this mostly equated to publicly berating their customers and critics on Facebook. And in the months since the initial controversy died down, the restaurant has become something of a tourist attraction in Scottsdale, drawing the curious and the masochistic in for a peek at the owners’ unique brand of crazy.

As for Chef Gordon: even though Kitchen Nightmares is ending, he will still have plenty to keep him busy. His restaurant empire currently includes fourteen restaurants bearing his brand, with 14 Michelin stars between them.

Fans of Chef Gordon’s TV presence need not despair; even though Kitchen Nightmares is coming to an end, Gordon’s programming will continue to air on Fox through 2015. In more good news, the wildly-popular Master Chef Junior has been renewed for a second and third season.

Have you ever been to a restaurant that was featured on either the UK or US edition of Kitchen Nightmares? If so, please tell us about it in the Comments section.

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