London - Restaurant owners may want to think twice before calling in Gordon Ramsay to save their ailing businesses.
All but two of the 21 restaurants the celebrity chef visited in the first two series of his American TV reality show Kitchen Nightmares have closed, it is reported.
That is a success rate of just 9.5 percent for the programmes, broadcast in 2005 and 2006.
While the venues were already failing, no doubt they expected that the chef's intervention would prove profitable.
And although the British star's success rate has progressively improved since then, it seems that his magic touch may still be lacking.
The foul-mouthed chef went on to film four more seasons of the popular show, with the rate of closure decreasing, although he still managed to save under half of the eateries.
In season three and four Ramsay visited 23 restaurants and, according to reports, only 13 of them are now closed, giving him a 43 per cent success rate.
Again, the show became more and more successful with each season as the fourth and fifth had a combined success rate of 77 per cent.
The US website reported last month that season six restaurant Chappy’s on Church in Nashville, which featured on the programme, was forced to close.
“This is a very sad day since we have worked so hard,” wrote owner John Chapman on his Facebook page.
“We shouldn’t have done Kitchen Nightmares. We have spent several months struggling to come out of a negative situation.”
But while the popularity of some of the restaurants are questionable, it seems that the TV show is going from strength to strength.
A Kitchen Nightmares spokesperson said: “Kitchen Nightmares aims to help struggling restaurants succeed. Gordon Ramsay, who holds nine Michelin stars, offers solutions in a bid to help turn failing restaurants around.
“Restaurant owners choose to take part in the programme to receive the benefit of Gordon's expertise - it is always their decision as to whether they follow his advice.” - Daily Mail
* Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares is broadcast on DStv’s BBC Lifestyle channel.
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