“I Have a Brother Who’s a Heroin Addict” — Gordon Ramsay Discusses Sibling in Netflix Docuseries

One of the most talked-about interview points to come out of Gordon Ramsay's Netflix docuseries, Being Gordon Ramsay, is that the celebrity chef has a brother named Ronnie who has an addiction to heroin.

Viewers who watched the documentary expressed how affected they were by Ramsay's candid discussions about his personal life, and wondered what the status of Ronnie Ramsay's health is now.

The Scottish chef says that he has a "guilt complex" regarding the way his brother's life had turned out compared to his own. He noted that the two of them had identical upbringings. They had moved around a lot as children and grew up with an alcoholic father.

Gordon said that he used his environment and familial dynamic to light a fire under his caboose to make something of himself, which is why he's constantly jumping from project to project. "There's nothing else, I'll be honest. So that drives me, that puts fuel in my tank because I was so close to not making it. That's what keeps me going," he said in a trailer for the Netflix doc.

When he was asked to elaborate on his personal journey, Gordon became visibly upset and began talking about Ronnie. "I have a brother who's a heroin addict. We shared a bunk bed. He's 15 months younger than me, and he's been an addict for the last four decades. I've gone to hell and back with him, and so I have a guilt complex," he told the interviewer.

As far as the celebrity chef is concerned, he believes that he could've easily been in Ronnie's shoes at this point in his life. "That could have been me. It could have been switched. It's not a cousin, it's not a mate down the pub, it's your brother. Born in the same house, grew up in the same bedroom, shared bunk beds, and so similar. But how can it be so different now?"

Cosmopolitan pointed out that this wasn't the first time Gordon has discussed Ronnie's struggles. The outlet penned that decades earlier, in an interview with Waitrose Food Illustrated, Gordon vented his frustrations in having to navigate his relationship with his brother and the impact it has on his family.

"It is hard dealing with Ronnie. He is a major responsibility. It is like having an 18-year-old to look after," he said. And when speaking with the Daily Mail in a joint interview with his wife, Tana, she also discussed the hardships that came with seeing Ronnie's addiction up close.

Tana told the outlet: "So many times we tried to fix him, then you actually begin to understand the enormity of the issue and that it's never going to change until it comes from him. He's not moved on at all."

Gordon said in the same interview that his brother even offered his services to be a musical performer at the chef's daughter's wedding.

"It was tough. It still pains me. He said, 'Hey, have you got a music gig for the wedding? I'm free.' I put down the phone and I said to Tana, 'F--king hell, here we are in the house we sleep in, and there's my little brother still with two pit bulls in a council flat in Birmingham, busking," he said. Gordon declined Ronnie's offer.

A 2007 report details some of the hardships Gordon experienced with his brother, Ronnie. In February of the same year, Ronnie was purportedly arrested for heroin possession in Indonesia, which culminated in him being "sentenced to 10 months behind bars." The write-up indicates that Ronnie made death threats to Gordon and his family after the chef refused to pay the $12,000 Ronnie accrued in legal bills.

The same piece said that Gordon had to take security precautions to ensure his family's safety. "He's tried everything. Death threats. Calls at midnight from various horrible people saying they know what time my kids leave school. Things like that you just shouldn't have to have in your life. I've changed my numbers, got extra security in my house with CCTV everywhere, but I'm not giving in. I'm not living like that anymore."

Gordon's recent revelations about his brother indicate that, unfortunately, not much has changed with their dynamic.