Gordon Ramsay weeps for brother

Posted by Anthea Gerrie Feb 22, 2007

Not usually thought of as a softie, Gordon Ramsay has chosen

the magazine put out by Britain’s poshest supermarket for his latest True Confessions.

The tough guy has told the editors of Waitrose Food Illustrated of his anguish over brother Ronnie, a former heroin addict.

“I feel the pain. I feel it big time,” says the star of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, adding: “I don’t think my mum at 60 should still be putting up with it.. Ronnie should be half-way there in life, but he has nothing.”

Like a good elder brother, Gordon has done more than his duty by 37-year-old Ronnie, three years the celeb chef’s junior. He’s paid for rehab and more poignantly, even gave drug money to Ronnie to get him to - and through - their father’s funeral.

The good word, though, is that Ronnie is said to have turned the corner and been drug-free for the past three months. But he may be vulnerable to exploitation, such as is apparently being attempted in Indonesia, were Ronnie texted his big brother that he was being interviewed for a job as a chef.

“It’s just his name they are using,” Gordon is reported to have told a friend,” they will probably have him answering the telephone.” And it’s true Ronnie has no culinary training; he’s a mechanic by trade.