Ramsay has found himself in hot water in Australia before

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has criticised TV star Gordon Ramsay after the chef made insulting remarks about TV host Tracy Grimshaw.

Ramsay, who appeared on Grimshaw's TV show on Friday, made the comments at a Melbourne food fair the following day.

He showed an image of a nude woman on all fours with a pig's face and likened the image to Grimshaw.

Mr Rudd said Ramsay's remarks reflected "a new form of low life". The chef has played down the incident.

'Offensive'

He told Australian programme Nine News his comments had been "blown out of context".

Ms Grimshaw hit back at Ramsay, describing him as an "arrogant narcissist" and "a bully" on her Monday night programme.

Grimshaw is a well-known TV personality in Australia

Ramsay allegedly also made several sexist remarks.

Melinda Tankard Reist, of Women's Forum Australia, told Australian newspaper the Herald Sun that Ramsay was "no longer welcome here".

"Ramsay's sexist and demeaning actions are offensive to every Australian woman," she said.

"Why should he get paid for depicting a woman as an animal and publicly deriding her looks? He shouldn't make money through the verbal abuse of women."

A spokeswoman for Ramsay told the newspaper on Sunday it was "just a joke".

Ramsay caused controversy in Australia last year when an inquiry was initiated by Liberal senator Cory Bernardi after he watched the chef's Kitchen Nightmares.

The probe was prompted by one episode aired in a pre-watershed slot early last year, in which Ramsay used a four-letter expletive more than 80 times in 40 minutes.

But senators stopped short of imposing an outright ban on swear words, citing a lack of an "overwhelming community consensus" in favour of the move.