Give Gordon Ramsay money now, prats! The John McCain of food continues to bring the awesome on cooking reality shows. But he is severely impaired when it comes to bringing the money, to banks.

Ramsay, who can probably cook better than any other Tourette's syndrome sufferer, nevertheless seems to be having money problems, if you consider "not paying back loans on time" and "being forced to guarantee your company's loans out of your own pockets" to be money problems, which we do:

According to accounts filed yesterday, his main company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, has breached its banking covenants - promises made to lenders to secure a loan. Ramsay and his chief executive Chris Hutcheson, who is also his father-in-law, have had to promise to help the company pay its debts if necessary.

Where are the expense account diners when you actually want them? It's safe to say Ramsay is just the leading edge of celebrity chefs with restaurant empires who will be forced to dramatically contract their businesses during this recession. Global networks of overpriced eateries coasting on name recognition just aren't a recession-era thing! We're looking at you, Bobby Flay. And if there are any financial experts who can explain the following in the comments, please do so, because it just sounds bad:

The holding company has also granted loans to Ramsay and his father-in-law, of £80,000 and £530,000 respectively. In a complex arrangement, the two men have also given personal guarantees of £1.6m and £500,000 to secure bank loans.

[Guardian UK]