Gordon Ramsay shuts down critics who claimed he copied Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown

Gordon Ramsay has  responded to claims that his new TV programme, Unchartered, mimicked that of the late celebrity Anthony Bourdain's, Parts Unknown.

The celebrity chef, famous both for his culinary prowess and his many television appearances, said that the idea for Unchartered - his latest programme to air on American television, in which he travels the world, visiting indigenous people to learn about different (food) cultures - came to him long before the late celebrity's famous documentary, Parts Unknown. 

In the first series of Unchartered, which first aired on July 21st on the National Geographic Network, the chef travelled to Peru, New Zealand, Morocco, Hawaii, Laos and Alaska in an anthropological quest to understand the foundations of different cuisines. 

When it was first announced, the premise was heavily criticised as being colonialist, lacking in innovation and transparently mimicking Anthony Bourdain's travel programme. At the time, the chef bitterly dismissed the claims in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, calling out "the feeble warriors that sit in their dungeons and spout negativity without understanding what we’re doing."

"I can’t wait to make all those bitter, twisted, little, boring truckers who aren’t busy enough in their lives eat their words," he said.

Yesterday, the chef told Metro.co.uk that he was "at peace now" that the programme has received widespread praise. 

"It’s good for them to see there’s no comparison.  It’s completely different," he added.

"It’s me doing what I do best. An adventure with food, understanding cultures, and from becoming an amazing prolific chef, to becoming a teacher, to becoming a pupil, stripped of everything I know, and putting myself into that area of their expertise, for me was a dream come true." 

The chef said that his admiration for Bourdain was boundless and that he would "never, ever attempt to copy anybody in their profession."

"Tony was a great friend of mine, and we shared many a time across the table with a glass of wine, and such a tragic loss."