The premiere of Gordon Ramsay‘s highly anticipated Netflix docuseries Being Gordon Ramsay on February 18, 2026, was meant to offer an unflinching look at the chef’s rise, regrets, and family life. Instead, it has reignited one of the most persistent scandals from his past: the seven-year affair allegations made by Sarah Symonds, who has branded the series a “disingenuous travesty” that completely erases the “double life” she claims Ramsay led during the early 2000s.
Symonds, now 56, first went public with her claims in 2007–2008, alleging she had been involved with Ramsay for seven years starting around 2001. She described clandestine meetings in hotels across the UK and abroad, late-night phone calls, and a relationship that allegedly overlapped with the birth of Ramsay’s younger children and the height of his television fame. Ramsay has repeatedly and categorically denied the affair, calling the accusations “absolute rubbish” and “fabricated” in past statements, insisting there was never any romantic involvement beyond a brief professional acquaintance.
In the wake of the docuseries’ release, Symonds launched a scathing media offensive, granting interviews to the Daily Mail, The Sun, and several podcasts where she accused the production of deliberate omission. “This is supposed to be ‘Being Gordon Ramsay’—unflinchingly honest,” she told the Daily Mail in a February 20, 2026, feature. “Yet there’s not one whisper of the seven years he spent living a double life. It’s a complete whitewash. A disingenuous travesty. He built this perfect family-man image while cheating behind Tana’s back—and now Netflix is helping him sell the lie.”
Symonds claims the series’ focus on Gordon’s guilt over being an absent father to his older children (Megan, Holly, Jack, and Tilly) conveniently sidesteps the reasons for those absences. “He wasn’t just working,” she alleged. “He was sneaking around, lying, compartmentalizing. The guilt he talks about on screen? It’s only half the story. The other half is the pain he caused me, Tana, and everyone caught in the web.”
The allegations resurfaced at a particularly vulnerable moment for Ramsay. Being Gordon Ramsay has been praised by many for its emotional depth—Gordon’s tearful admissions of prioritizing career over family, his reflections on his abusive childhood, and his efforts to be more present for younger sons Oscar and Jesse. Yet critics and online commentators have noted the conspicuous absence of any mention of infidelity rumors, past tabloid storms, or Symonds herself. Symonds says this silence is proof of a curated narrative: “They had six episodes to tell the full truth. They chose to tell a sanitized version instead.”
Symonds has also linked her ongoing mental health struggles—complex PTSD, addiction recovery, and depression—to the alleged relationship and Ramsay’s public denials. “Every time this man gets a platform to rewrite history, it reopens wounds,” she stated. “Watching him cry about missing bedtime stories while pretending the rest never happened? It’s gaslighting on a global scale.” She hinted at potential legal consultation, though no formal action has been announced.
Ramsay and his representatives have not issued a direct response to Symonds’ latest comments, though a Netflix spokesperson emphasized that the docuseries was an “intimate, personal portrait” focused on Gordon’s professional ambitions and family reflections, not a comprehensive biography. Tana Ramsay, who appears supportive throughout the series, has remained silent on the renewed claims.
The scandal’s resurgence has divided public opinion. Supporters of Ramsay argue the allegations are old, unproven, and irrelevant to his current life as a husband, father, and restaurateur. Others see the omission as a missed opportunity for full accountability, especially in a project marketed as candid. Social media is flooded with side-by-side comparisons: clips of Gordon’s emotional family confessions juxtaposed with 2008 headlines about the alleged affair, fueling hashtags like #RamsayDoubleLife and #BeingGordonTruth.
For Symonds, the docuseries is less a revelation than a painful reminder. “He conquered kitchens, television, the world,” she said. “But he never had the courage to own what happened behind closed doors. That’s the real travesty.”
As Being Gordon Ramsay continues to top Netflix charts, the chef’s carefully constructed redemption arc now faces an unwelcome shadow—one that refuses to fade quietly into the past.