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Fox dishes up double servings of chef Ramsay

Award-winning chef and hospitality expert Gordon Ramsay returns for season 3 of HOTEL HELL.
Award-winning chef and hospitality expert Gordon Ramsay returns for season 3 of HOTEL HELL.

"You can @#!&! and $#! your %$@*!"

We can't actually print the Gordon Ramsay quote in a family newspaper. And his expletives usually get bleeped out of his many TV shows as well, but we know exactly what he's saying.

The bottom line is that viewers know what happens when the famous (or infamous) perfectionist reaches his boiling point. How long will his long-simmering fuse burn this episode before Ramsay explodes?

The chef and hospitality expert vents his spleen and hurls his vitriol with uncharacteristic gusto for a Brit. That's why we love to watch. One of these days he's going to pop a vein and that'll be it.

The 49-year-old Scottish-born Ramsay has earned his reputation of having a fiery temper on four of his five Fox series -- Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, MasterChef and Hotel Hell.

Only on MasterChef Junior do we see the kinder, gentler Ramsay. These are, after all, just kids.

That didn't stop TV Guide from including Ramsay in a March 2013 article, "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time."

For the record, Ramsay came in at No. 49, just ahead of Red John from The Mentalist. J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) of Dallas was rated top nasty.

This week and next Fox gives a double dose of Ramsay when Hotel Hell returns for Season 3 at 7 p.m. Tuesday. That's followed at 7 p.m. June 1 by Season 7 of MasterChef.

HOTEL HELL

In the new season of Hotel Hell, Ramsay will travel the country to check out and advise struggling hotel establishments firsthand.

If experience holds true, some will welcome his advice and counsel, other will resist his suggestions and end up on the receiving end of his richly deserved invective.

Set for the Ramsay treatment are establishments in Fort Pierce, Fla.; Island Park, Idaho; Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; Southbridge, Mass.; Newton, Pa.; Chelan, Wash.; and Loudonville, Ohio.

Ramsay leaves no mattress unturned or bathroom uninspected as he examines the inner workings of each business. This includes everything from their management practices, staff chemistry and morale to cleanliness, food and decor.

Along the way this season he will take on a hotel owner who hoards clothing in the locked closets of the guests' rooms; a historic inn where "shocking rumors" about the owners have left their rooms empty; and a family-built castle that has fallen to the responsibility of the ex-wife.

As expected, some owners will work well with Ramsay to address the problems he has identified, while others will refuse to take his advice and face the consequences.

I've always wondered -- since it was the owners who applied to be on the show in the first place, why is it that some prove so recalcitrant in accepting Ramsay's expert advice? Did they just see an opportunity to be on television? Did one spouse twist the other's arm to be on TV?

Whatever it is, in the end, it will be up to the owners and their staffs to work together to keep their hotels open.

Suggestion to Fox: Have a two-hour special to revisit past seasons and update viewers on what happened to those hotels that passed on taking Ramsay's suggestions. Did they succeed or are the places parking lots now?

MASTERCHEF

On Season 7 of MasterChef, Ramsay will be co-hosting alongside noted pastry chef Christina Tosi.

Wolfgang Puck will be featured as a guest judge, along with celebrity chefs Aaron Sanchez, Edward Lee, Kevin Sbraga and Richard Blais.

"We are thrilled to welcome some of the world's best chefs into the MasterChef kitchen as mentors and guest judges this season," Ramsay tells Fox. "Each of the guest judges brings a unique perspective and skill to the kitchen that we believe will propel America's best home cooks to the next level."

The season kicks off with 40 home cooks traveling to Los Angeles, where they will attempt to earn a coveted white apron and move forward to compete for the MasterChef title, a cookbook deal and the tasty $250,000 grand prize.

Judging the battle rounds, Ramsay and Tosi will be checking for flavor, creativity and presentation. Ramsay notes that in order to move to the next round of the competition, the home cooks "must have an immense passion for food and be determined to out-cook their rivals."

Yeah, and having a thick skin never hurts.

Style on 05/22/2016

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