Over the years, Gordon Ramsay has both beguiled and terrified audiences with his mix of hot-headed temper, and straightforward attitude. The celebrity chef, perhaps most known for hosting series like Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef, has been catapulted to fame. His most recent turn in the limelight is because he’s charmed everyone by not knowing what Twitch is — despite his shows being incredibly popular on the live-stream platform.
It started with the launch of Ramsay’s new show, Next Level Chef, where he and other top chefs put together the teams of other chefs. According to the show’s intro, this is Ramsay’s first new cooking contest show in 12 years (it debuted Jan. 2 on Fox).
The viral video, widely circulating on Twitter, includes a clip from the first episode where each chef “drafts” their team for the larger competition. In it, a chef named Tricia Wang introduces herself after Ramsay picks her for his team. (The judging chefs did a blind taste test of dishes prepared by those competing for slots on each chef’s team.) In the clip, Ramsay asked Wang what she does for a living, and she said that she streams a cooking show on Twitch.
“What the fuck is Twitch,” Ramsay responded, with his typical decorum.
“Honestly I was still overwhelmed with being picked by Chef Ramsay and was so busy crying that I didn’t process what he said, otherwise I think I would have laughed my face off,” Wang told Polygon over email. (She cooked scallops, in case you were wondering what captured Ramsay’s palate.) Wang posted the clip on Twitter, which you can view below.
Ramsay has leaned into the goof. He sent a Tweet acknowledging the clip and asked the official Twitch account if he could get a lesson on what the platform is. At time of publication, Ramsay’s Twitter bio on his official page reads, “Always near food … doesn’t know what Twitch is.” The chef also replied to the popular streamer, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, with a quip about being the “Next Level Streamer.”
Ramsay and his shows are incredibly popular on Twitch. In December, popular variety streamers like Lengyel and Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker streamed themselves watching and reacting to Ramsay on MasterChef. Ramsay’s bombastic attitude and piercing one-liners are a perfect fit for Twitch clips. At one point, the trend even caught the eye of Season 3 winner Christine Hà.
Ramsay, 55, has been a television personality since a docuseries debut in 1999, with Hell’s Kitchen (2004) launching him into mainstream stardom. Thanks to some sharp instincts, and an even sharper tongue, he has stayed relevant over the past two decades, and has become an early adopter of other social media platforms — which makes it especially funny that he had no idea what Twitch was.
Ramsay may be new to Twitch, but he’s regularly popular on TikTok, where he makes charming videos with his daughter, Matilda. Now all we need is for him to stream them live.
