Spearfishing expert Dave O’Callaghan told the Sunday Times he had caught the fish the celebrity chef cooked on an open fire in the episode.

"I went in 20 minutes before everyone else to make sure we had fish to put on the barbecue.

"I caught about four and then Gordon got in and we spent about an hour in the water. When we came back in we threaded the fish onto a stringer and he carried them."

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said the broadcaster had looked into the incident and discovered the show’s makers had misrepresented what had happened.

"The production company Optomen has informed us that, after investigation, regrettably it appears that one part of the sea bass VT gave viewers an inaccurate impression about Gordon’s involvement.

"We are working with Optomen to ensure this does not happen again."

She added: "Channel 4 does take such errors of judgment seriously and we regret that viewers may feel they were let down on this occasion."


Gordon accused of faking scenes for TV - June 20 2007
Gordon Ramsay has been accused in a lawsuit of faking scenes for an American version of his reality TV show Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

The lawsuit was filed yesterday in US District Court in New York by Martin Hyde, a former general manager at Dillons, a restaurant in Manhattan.

Hyde claimed Ramsay, known for his foul-mouthed outbursts on screen, humiliated him.

Hyde said Ramsay forced him to quit his job to avoid further abuse.

The lawsuit said Ramsay featured the restaurant as part of a new US show, to be distributed this autumn by the Fox Broadcasting Co.

Ramsay was supposed to makeover failing restaurants in a week’s time as his confrontations with staff were captured by hidden cameras and microphones, according to the lawsuit.

But, in reality, he staged events, falsely claiming meat was spoiled, using a defective chair to imply Dillons’ furniture was shoddy and even hiring actors to pose as customers to make the restaurant look busy at the end of the week, the lawsuit said.

Hyde asked for millions of dollars in damages and a court order to stop the show airing.

James Curich, a Ramsay spokesman, said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because he hadn’t yet seen it.

As for allegations about fabrications, Curich said: "It is a reality show and as far as I know it’s not something they do."

Jennifer Sprague, a Fox Broadcasting spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said she couldn’t comment.

Andrew Blackmore, a manager at Dillons, said he’d signed a release stating he couldn’t talk about the show to the media.


Gordon in ’buffalo herding’ crash - June 11 2007
TV chef Gordon Ramsay has crashed a car while trying to herd water buffalo in Scotland.

He got behind the wheel of a rented 4x4 while filming an episode of his Channel 4 show The F Word.

He was visiting farmer Steven Mitchell at his home in Fife to make Scottish buffalo mozzarella.

The pair went out into the field to round up the buffalo in two vehicles - and collided.

"They went charging around in two 4x4s to herd the animals, and there was a point at which they met," a spokeswoman for the star said.

"Luckily Gordon wasn’t hurt and the 4x4 wasn’t too badly damaged," she added.

The embarrassing scene has been left out of tomorrow night’s show.

It is not the first animal-related incident to beset the series.

One of the lambs which Ramsay had been keeping at the home of David and Victoria Beckham was apparently found savaged to death by a mystery beast.