Gordon Ramsay made an appearance on MasterChef Australia last season for the very first time. He joined Australian judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris. A judge on the US version of the show, he says he "fell in love" with the Aussie version about eight years ago.

"Every time I have a producers' meeting for the American MasterChef, I say, 'Guys, look at this,'" he says. "The food in Australia's MasterChef is better than some of the professionals in France and England. Get your s**t together!' "So I've always been a big supporter." In 2018, Gordon jetted Down Under to film a week's worth of episodes for MasterChef Australia . The highlight for him was mentoring contestants as they went up against professional chefs. "I'm all about the underdog," Gordon explains. "I've been dealt a couple of dysfunctional cards. I didn't come from a restaurant background. "So when I get a chance to put the underdogs against the professionals, I'm going to make sure I give them everything I've got so they can take that pro down. I love that kind of combat."

Gordon filmed a week's worth of MasterChef Australia episodes with judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris in 2018. Image: Network Ten

The popular chef hadn't always planned for a career in the food industry, having once had a promising career as a footballer. Gordon trained with the Glasgow Rangers, but a knee injury ended it all. "Football – that was my first passion," he says. "That was taken away from me due to no fault of my own. But I didn't sit there and get angry and bitter. I went down another trail." That "other trail" led to Gordon building a culinary empire worth more than $100 million. He can now afford to give his children with wife Tana – Megan, 20, twins Jack and Holly, 18, and Matilda, 16 – luxuries he could never have dreamt of himself. But he's careful not to indulge them. "Jack and Holly, for their 18th birthday, many parents would go and buy them a car or a Rolex," Gordon points out. "I bought them spots in the London Marathon to go and run it for Tana and my foundation for Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children. So I kept it real."

Gordon chose a career in cooking, after his dreams of professional football were dashed. Image: Network Ten