Between his colorful comments on Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, and his savage Twitter food criticisms, Gordon Ramsey is the absolute embodiment of English snark. Granted, you’d be a hard ass like him too if you demanded the best from your subordinates. Much like an NCO treats their troops, nothing is done out of spite — he’s just pushing them to be the best they can be.
The tables flipped in season 4 of his show The F Word (UK).
Corporals Ben Slater and Tim Richards met with Ramsey at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) near Lympstone, Devon. The CTCRM is the principal training center for the UK’s Royal Marines.
The crews that are there for 32 weeks at a time are given mundane food, despite the twice the average calorie intake. Before they would allow Ramsey to do what he does best, the Royal Marines were going to show him why troops need those extra calories…
…by running him through the Woodbury Common’s endurance course.
Right out the gate, Ramsey arrives to the 17k (roughly 10.5 miles) course late. As every fighting man and woman in the world knows, “If you’re not early, you’re not on time. If you’re late, you’re SOL.”
The stern and loud head chef was dropped to do 100 press-ups (the British way of saying push-ups.) Referring to the instructor, Ramsey even quips “Is he always that miserable first thing in the morning? Does he ever crack a smile? F*ck me.”
Every recruit runs the course carrying 32 lbs. of gear and an SA80 Rifle. And then they take the ‘sheep dip’ and ‘smartie tubes.’
The sheep dip is a unique and traditional obstacle on the Commando Course. It consists of submerged concrete tunnels, filled with water and mud, that you must swim through. You are entirely reliant on the other Marine to help you make it across to the other side. The smartie tubes are just a tiny sewer tunnel that you need to crawl through.
He didn’t finish with any impressive time, but he held his head up high — and he didn’t finish last. Not bad for a man twice the average recruit’s age.
Afterwards, he finally got to return the favor and give the Royal Marines a lesson in cooking to help get past the monotony of their rations and the British version on an MRE.
(YouTube, Gordon Ramsey)