Ramsay to miss out on second helping of Hell's Kitchen

Gordon Ramsay has ruled out filming another series of his hit reality show Hell's Kitchen for ITV, but is poised to sign a new deal with Channel 4.

Gordon Ramsay has ruled out filming another series of his hit reality show Hell's Kitchen for ITV, but is poised to sign a new deal with Channel 4.

The fiery chef became a television phenomenon earlier this summer when he starred in the top-rated series, plus Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on Channel 4, winning over audiences with his no-holds barred approach to restaurant management.

Hell's Kitchen, in which celebrities are trained as chefs and compete against one another to prepare meals in a restaurant built for the occasion, attracted eight million viewers for ITV at its peak.

Highlights included Ramsay bellowing at one of the contestants, Edwina Currie: "One minute you're shagging our prime minister and now you're shagging me from behind."

An ITV spokeswoman said there would be a second series next year, but that it was, "far too early to confirm any details". Sources close to the programme said Ramsay would not be appearing because of the huge time commitment.

The show was on air every night for two weeks and Ramsay also spent a week preparing for it - a considerable commitment for a man who runs three restaurants. Ramsay's decision not to take part in another series of Hell's Kitchen was "pretty amicable", according to sources at ITV.

In contrast, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, the Channel 4 programme in which Ramsay goes into ailing restaurants and advises them on how to turn their business around, can be more easily fitted around his day job.

"We have been talking to him about Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares but nothing has been finalised yet," said a Channel 4 spokeswoman.

The format for Hell's Kitchen, which followed the channel's hugely successful reality TV show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, was developed before the chef came on board.

While he has decided against making another series in the UK, Ramsay is taking the format to the US, where the contestants will be ordinary people instead of celebrities. Granada, which produced Hell's Kitchen for ITV, has confirmed it is in advanced talks with Rupert Murdoch's Fox network to make an American version.

Ramsay reportedly said last week that he had signed the deal in Los Angeles the previous week and was "very excited". He said: "The chefs won't be celebrities this time - just ordinary men and women who think they can make it in the kitchen. But the prize is fantastic - the winner will get handed the keys to their own restaurant in Hollywood worth $2m."

The three-star Michelin chef explained that Fox bosses had seen the tapes of Hell's Kitchen and had told him that he would not need to curb his colourful language.

Ramsay said: "It's just as well because I can't change the way I am or the way I work. I'd have walked away if they'd started any of that 'Tone it down' b******s."