I love cooking, and that often involves someone like Gordon Ramsay’s TV shows. Yes, while I have gone on and on about the wonders of cooking channels on YouTube or watching the best baking shows to spark inspiration, one of my favorites has always been Ramsay and his silly (yet successful) cooking shows, many of which premiere as part of the 2025 TV schedule.
But as someone who has basically majored in all things Gordon Ramsay over the last few years or so, I’ve started to notice something about his latest series, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service – and how it feels exactly like one of his other shows, let’s get into it.
I’ve Been A Fan Of Gordon Ramsay For Years
I know I said in the introduction that I’m a fan of Gordon Ramsay, but I really am. Seriously. My boyfriend makes the constant joke that if I’m not watching the latest and greatest on the Netflix TV schedule or at the movie theater, I’m probably learning how to cook a Beef Wellington from Gordon Ramsay.
I’ve been an avid lover of all the crazy Hell’s Kitchen moments. I’ve loved any new show that he’s released, including Next Level Chef. But his latest series – Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service – isn’t inspired. In fact, it’s lame because it’s just like another one of his shows.
But Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service Is A Direct Ripoff Of Kitchen Nightmares
Gordon Ramsay is the kind of celebrity who, over the last decade, has only gotten more popular as the internet continues to resurface past content. One show that did mighty well online years after it stopped premiering was Kitchen Nightmares. In fact, it did so well that it ended up getting revived and has been running for two seasons now. However, his new series, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, is essentially just Kitchen Nightmares, but now he gets to…break and enter at night?
Jokes aside, let me break it down for you. In Kitchen Nightmares, owners of restaurants willingly sign on for the show for Gordon to come, try their food, see how bad their place is, and then get their butts whipped into shape by the legendary chef, so that they’re a fully functioning restaurant by the end of the episode.
Secret Service does the same thing – except, this time, it’s not the owner willingly doing it. Instead, it’s an “insider” (who’s usually just a part of the restaurant staff) who reaches out to Gordon asking for help. This leads to Gordon being able to enter the restaurant after hours, see how bad their kitchen looks, and then the next day through “secret” cameras, he spots how patrons react to the food and send in two close chef buddies of his to taste the food unbiased because the owner has no idea.
From there, Gordon unceremoniously storms in, surprises everyone, and says, “shut it down,” only for them to do the same thing Kitchen Nightmares does. Revamp the menu and renovate the space. There’s really not that much of a difference between the two, except that now the owner doesn’t really know what’s going on, so I suppose that leads to less bias in the cooking? I’m not even sure.
I Think They’re Slowly Starting To Run Out Of Ideas
Gordon Ramsay is great. I really do love him, and I think he’s a big reason as to why I ended up going on my cooking journey – that and the movie Ratatouille.
But at the same time, I really think Fox, the network behind all of Gordon’s shows, is starting to run out of ideas. I think there’s more we could explore in the food space – perhaps Gordon traveling to other countries, exploring specific cuisines, or something similar. We don’t need to see him yelling at people every single time to be entertaining.
With how successful Ramsay’s shows are, I wouldn’t be shocked if this ended up getting renewed. But I hope that if it does, they take another look and see how they can really diversify the show from Kitchen Nightmares.
