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Celeb chef Jason Atherton opens up on feud with Gordon Ramsay
JASON Atherton has opened up on his reported fallout with his former boss Gordon Ramsay - insisting his mentor is "a legend".
Michelin-starred chef Jason, 51, worked for Gordon, 56, early on his career before branching out on his own in 2010.
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During a TV appearance in 2019 he admitted they haven't spoken since his departure - after which he earned a Michelin star within a year of opening his restaurant Pollen Street Social.
Jason now boasts multiple fine-dining restaurants around the world.
Asked about his relationship with Gordon, Jason spoke highly of his ex-mentor and told The Sun: "There’s certainly no feud from my side.
"I'm only five foot eight, don't want a feud with Mr. Ramsay.
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"He's a legend, an absolute legend. And he's, you know, when I worked for him, he was 100% at top of his game and he still is.
"Every TV show he does is is pretty much a smash hit, every book he writes is great, we should be very proud of what he's achieved."
Jason added: "Not just for himself, but also for our country and overseas. He's been a real role model for chefs. So yeah, there's no, there's definitely no feud. That's 100%."
Continuing to shower praise on his contemporary, Jason said he was grateful for Gordon drilling a strong work ethic into young chefs.
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Asked what he had learned from his time with the star, he said: "I use the quote all the time, you know, because we worked extremely hard, and we still do today.
"‘Hard work pays off’. It's as simple as that.
"Whether you're willing to get up before everybody else, you're willing to go to bed later, everybody else you're willing to put extra hours in more than anybody else.
"You're willing to do whatever it takes to be at the top of your field that hard work pays off and Gordon taught all of us that, you know, we worked as a team, we worked incredibly hard to keep brand Ramsay at the top of his game and I think we achieved that.
"And I took that into my own and my own philosophy and me and the guys, we take the same stance we work extremely hard.
"It's not for everybody, you know, but we work extremely hard to try and keep ourselves you know, at the forefront of what we do."
Jason has become a regular face on TV screens too following his chef success, including Saturday Kitchen.
However, he is not afraid of going up against the live cooking show.
He spoke to The Sun ahead of the launch of his new ITV show Dubai Dishes.
Jason explained: "I'm just honoured and blessed that anybody wants to ask me to do anything these days.
"I'm no spring chicken anymore and they want me to present a show, fingers crossed, we want it to be a success.
"I'm passionate about Dubai and I'm passionate about British food and showcasing the best of British all over the world.
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"So if I could contribute to that in some way, shape or form then for me it's a job well done."
Dubai Dishes airs Saturdays at 10.10am on ITV1.
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