Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has gotten a lot of bad press in the last few weeks over a reported affair he had with “professional mistress” Sarah Symonds. Fox News’ Pop Tarts has evidence that Symonds’ claims were all just an attempt to increase hits on the website AshleyMadison.com, for which she was a spokesperson. The website is for people who want to have extramarital affairs. Symonds was employed because she wrote an instructional book on how to be a mistress. Classy. The president and CEO of AshleyMadison claims Symonds had reason to fake an affair, and a high profile chef was suggested during website meetings.
It has been quite a rough week for top British chef Gordon Ramsay after author Sarah Symonds went public with claims she has been having a ten-year affair with the married “Hell’s Kitchen” star. Ramsay however came forth on Thursday and dismissed the allegations as “a load of BS” while appearing on the BBC’s “Good Food Show.” But Miss Symonds was employed in February this year to be the U.K spokesperson for the controversial internet dating service AshleyMadison.com which caters to those looking to have a secret extramarital affair.
“Symonds was the face of the company in the U.K and we wanted to generate some buzz and one of the ideas we threw around was if she was too have a high-profile affair,” Noel Biderman, President & CEO of AshleyMadison.com tells Tarts. “At the time she specifically asked if an affair with a top British chef would accomplish what we needed to do.”
So could it all be a PR stunt or did Symonds really have something to hide? The relationship between the spokeswoman and the company fizzed out after just a few months as Symonds reportedly wanted to head to Hollywood and pursue her lifelong ambitions while the company needed someone who would stay in the U.K.
“There were no ill feelings when she left,” Biderman says, adding that he has since reached out to Symonds in the wake of the Ramsay infidelity claims but has not had a response.
[From Pop Tarts]
The main problem with this angle is that Symonds isn’t working for AshleyMadison anymore, so why would she come forward about the affair now? While the president’s quote is pretty damning, it’s important to note that Pop Tarts has a big conflict of interest here – which they don’t disclose. It’s part of Fox News’ website, and Ramsay’s reality show “Hell’s Kitchen” is a Fox show. It would make sense that they want to keep their talent looking good. The article could still very well be true, and Noel Biderman said what he said. But it’s important to take the whole thing with a grain of salt since Fox didn’t disclose the conflict of interest.
No matter what, Sarah Symonds sounds like a real loser. She’s become famous for her affairs, and apparently that’s the only thing she’s good at. The woman actually wrote a book that’s essentially about how to screw another woman over. She doesn’t sound like an ethical person, so it wouldn’t be that surprising if this whole debacle was just a way for her to become more famous.
Here’s Sarah Symonds’ instructional cheating book. Header of Gordon Ramsay leaving his London home this morning. Image thanks to Fame.
Did this occur to no one until now…really? the woman is a “professional mistress”…aka, a hooker. And she writes about it. Of course she wants to put her name front and center. Unfortunately, it may backfire. Good mistresses keep secrets. Hm. Maybe Gordon’s check didn’t clear.
Whose the donkey now, Gordon?
It saddens me that women make it okay for men to be scoundrels.
A man who cheats is no prize to be won by any woman.
Convenient way to launch book #2??
I hope Gordan isn’t messing around with this woman. I find it hard to beleive. He seems to have some integrity and standards and this would fall way below them.
I’m a little confused… did she make up the story about having an affair with Ramsey, or did she target Ramsey to have an affair with so she’d have a real story? If he was just a PR target he must feel like a real plonker now. I don’t think it’s going to make Tana feel any better.
it seems to me that if she’s the face for an internet site promoting “secret” extramaritial affairs, that going public with such an affair blows the entire thing out of the water….isn’t that the opposite of what you want to happen?
No winners in this.
Spot on Tina.
I still wouldn’t put it past him.
Why isn’t he denying it staunchly then? Why dither? I say they had something but I anot sure one could call it an affair.
This woman is a pathetic loser.
Nice try, Fox, but it won’t wash. I’m astonished that he’s continuing to deny this affair. Symonds may be a loser but so is Ramsay. How dull and mundane and ordinary he is after all his fine talk about being a family man etc etc. Prat.
Sounds like the hooker and the chef deserve each other.
Tana should get her money while it’s large and cut him loose.
If you watch his Hell’s Kitchen shows, it always seems that the women get the breaks on the show, those include any “intimate” settings with him. As Rock said, “Lobster Bisque? I can get Lobster Bisque in any store in my neighborhood!” The women always win the shopping sprees, the photo shoots and the intimate dinners with him… The show is rigged so that he can “stir” the women’s pots.
Example again, Victoria should NEVER have made it as far as she did, she did because of her looks and body.
At least 3 better chefs who were either male or less pretty than she were kicked off.
Don’t get me wrong, if he is shlepping on his wife, I hope she takes him for his last serving spoon…
It seems clear to me no one really knows what is going on…but this alleged mistress is nothing more than a business woman (big surprise there), and no one really cares about Tana but rather about themselves were they in her shoes…as for Gordon well you know we are all suckers and like to forgive anyone who possess genius.
@ irl: of course, and you know him well enough to make such judgment. Don’t be so naive, the truth is never what it appears to be on the surface or what people (esp. people with public profiles) say. FACT is that “Gordon Ramsey” is a BRAND, so people like you get sucked in and think it is really Gordon Ramsey and spend millions buying his books and watch his shows etc.
Who knows if this is real? This lady published a book about having affairs! This sounds like a publicity stunt! There is so many why’s
– Why come out now? What’s(really)in it for her?
– Why isnt anybody, but her commenting about this “affair”?
-Why would Ramsey have an affair with someone so public?
Why I’m I the only one asking these questions?
Ive lost all respect for the ‘man’ I agree with some…why isnt he denying the hell out of this one? I think if it was a PR stunt then it back fired badly..I dont even want to watch his shows anymore..and wish i could get my money back for his stupid books in which where all about his bad childhood..think of his kids now and the things they will hear..even if it is just a way for some UGLY hooker to get some PR…whos pathetic now?
I hope Tana takes him for everything!!
I truly believe that this “story” is just that, A VERY BAD STORY!!
Tana and Ramsey are a loving couple who have 4 beautiful children. How can you negative people believe any thing that comes out of this ‘Gold Diggers’ mouth?? Why should Ramswey have to say anything, or denying anything?? I would not if I were him. Love his shows, he is a fabulous chef, and he is an AWESOME FAMILY MAN! Why allow some woman (if you can call her a woman) who has had numerous affairs with so many married men be believed? Leave him along and let his family ‘heal’ from this allegations! That’s all these are is allegations, and NOT the truth. Why is it so necessary these days for people to be so negative, and believe such lies? You know why? Because people have nothing better to do in their boring/mundane lives than to write negative feedback on a man who has made himself a very successful chef. No one ‘gave’ Chef Ramsey anything. He has worked very, very hard for all that he has, and people love to place blame on those who are successful in their own right! Shame on you people..He is a good man, wonderful father, and most importatnly a very loving husband. Jealousy makes the ‘wicked’ come out of the ‘wood work,’ and I believe those who judge so cruely need to take a good look at themselves! So let the man and his family be…they are the victims of a person who wants to sell books, ruin lives, and now have a YV show. OMG get a life!
calling Symonds a hooker is an insult to prostitutes who simply trade sex for money.
Symonds on the other hand, profits from destruction of other peoples well-being, such as the men to whom she’s lied, and their wives and children, for whom she could care less.
The hooker looks a saint compared to this.
Wow..
I think that Ramsay may have just made a deal with the author of this book. He gets half of the proceeds, his wife knows about the deal and knows that the alleged affair is a sham because of the said deal.
Seriously they meet up in a hotel that has a restaurant owned by him and they make a deal there. No sex just deal making. I say this because Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited is facing financial difficulties, where and what would you do to make some money to help fix your business? Its great PR because everyone knows Gordon is a royal pain in the butt, but his food is insane. His family life seems excellent.
If it were me and my wife and we had financial problems and I could make some extra money from PR then yes I would make some money from this for sure. Why deny it when denying it makes the book not sell?
Just a thought for your brains to chew through.