"People open these places as a fantasy. They’re in love with the idea of the owning a place rather than the reality of running one," he says.

In his latest series, he says one disgruntled chef - a wannabe actor - actually came after him one night after filming

"We didn’t know whether he had a knife or something, but I went out to see him," he says. "He went ballistic, grabbed me, threw me against a wall, I threw him against a wall, ouch."

Another place in the Hamptons, the playground of the rich and famous, had to be shut down.

"I leant on the wall but stuck to it because of the grease and grime. That was it, I shut it down," he reveals.

"It was that gross, we had to extend the filming by three days and fumigate the place, get it all cleaned up."

Gordon’s not a veggie-hater - May 10 2007
Gordon Ramsay’s not known for his tolerant attitude about food, but the chef insists vegetarians aren’t on his hit list.

"I don’t have anything against vegetarians," he says. "I just get frustrated with the parents that manipulate their children before they have a choice."

And The F Word star says he’d even support his own kids - as long as they were a bit older and were making the decision for the right reasons.

"If Megan came back and wanted to be a veggie just because her friend at ballet wanted to be one, then that’s not good, it’s for the wrong reasons.

"Meat is packed with protein, and when you’re growing up that’s so important. My view is that people should eat fish at least."

Back in 2005, the chef came under fire for feeding meat to a vegetarian in Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

But there’s still some attitudes to food which annoy him.

"I get frustrated because of the amount of females who give the impression they’re cheating if they eat. Some women have a light snack in the day, a glass of wine at night and bypass dinner," he growls.

New storm over Gordon’s horse BBQ - May 8 2007
Gordon Ramsay is set to cause yet more controversy with his new series of the F Word, which will feature a horse barbecue.

In the programme to be screened next Tuesday, presenter Janet Street-Porter travels to France to buy horse meat, which she then cooks and sells to punters at Cheltenham Racecourse.

But the feature has raised concern among animal welfare groups, who claim the stunt on the Channel 4 show "reeks of desperation".

Janet is filmed investigating red meat alternatives to beef, and urges them to "take seriously" the potential of horse as a nutritious food source.

Discussing the taste, Gordon says on the programme: "It’s quite gamey and packed with protein".

But a spokeswoman for the show said: "Gordon is talking about the actual flavour (of horse), but not actually endorsing it. It is Janet who urges people to try it."

It is not illegal to eat horse meat in Great Britain, although it it uncommon.

A spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said: "Truly talented chefs rely on their culinary skills, not controversy, to grab headlines.

"In a country where thousands of people go vegetarian each week, Ramsay’s attempt to be outrageous, first by positioning himself as a vegetarian hater, and now by having horse meat on his show, reeks of desperation."