Finally! Gordon Ramsay's Daughter Dishes on Following in Her Famous Father's Footsteps
Tilly Ramsay
When MasterChef Junior returns for its ninth season tonight, Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Tilly Ramsay will be joining her father, Daphne Oz and Aarón Sánchez as a judge on the kiddie cooking competition.
Tilly made a guest appearance on Season 8 for a donut challenge and then she was invited to join as a judge for the Home for the Holidays Christmas special, so she’s not a complete newbie in her new job.
“I’ve grown up watching my dad go to work and I was able to sit on the side of a set and watch him as a judge and watch him with the kids,” Tilly tells Parade. “I was always admiring him from afar. When he talked to me about doing the Christmas special, I was so excited. After that when he talked about being a judge for the full season, it was like a dream come true. I love cooking, I love a competition show, it was amazing.”
One of the things Gordon always says in interviews is that none of his children are following in his footsteps, which may be his way of not putting pressure on them to do so. But with Tilly joining him as a judge on MasterChef Junior, he may soon need to change his tune.
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“We’re all so different,” says Tilly, who shares her Nov. 8 birthday with Gordon. “I think he’s starting to see more that I am trying to follow in his footsteps and trying my best to be like him. I think he really, really loves that. I love anything to do with food. I’ve spent some time in one of the kitchens in his restaurant. I just went there for a day to watch what the atmosphere was like and shadow and experience it. I absolutely loved that. I have no idea what the future holds for me, but I hope, and I would love for it to be something in the culinary world. It’s so exciting and creative. I keep telling him, ‘Dad, I’m trying to follow in your footsteps, but you’ve left pretty big ones.’”
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So, when Tilly joins MasterChef Junior tonight, she will be one step closer to walking in Gordon’s shoes. As she does so, she will be the youngest of the judges at 22 years old, making her the closest to the kids in age as they range from 8 to 13. With her youth, she brings a different perspective to working with the young cheftestants. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that she was learning like they are.
“I think we’re growing up in a very different world in terms of learning through social media and seeing different videos of cooking,” Tilly says. “I think we’ve got more accessibility to it. Sharing different thoughts on that was interesting and just being able to be there for them in a way that’s not just like a judge but, hopefully, also like a mentor. I felt like I could relate to them, and hopefully they could do the same to me.”
CR: Greg Gayne/FOX
Tonight’s episode of MasterChef Junior kicks off with the “Eating Emoji” episode in which each of the 12 young home chefs select a cookie. Each cookie has a different emoji on it and the challenge is to create a dish that expresses that emotion.
“One of them had heart eyes and that love and happiness feeling,” Tilly explains. “Another one was a smiley one and that was, again, happiness. Or the one with sunglasses and that was like that’s a ‘cool’ feeling. I think it was a very creative challenge for them. It was nice being able to feel the stories behind the food. I feel like when you’ve got a good story that connects the food together, it always makes for a very good dish.”
CR: Greg Gayne/FOX
During our chat, Tilly also talks about how the home chefs are stacking up when it comes to their cooking skills, the Magic Castle challenge, her favorite foods, her plans to possibly write another cookbook, and who does the cooking at home—mom Tana or dad Gordon.
How do you think this group of kids is doing? Are they dealing well with the pressure? Are you surprised by some of the dishes they create?
I was admiring how these kids can deal with the pressure. They managed to stay so calm when things weren’t going so well in the kitchen. Not only do you have the time pressure, but you’ve got the pressure of four judges in front of you. When things started to go wrong, they would just think on their feet and pivot and go down a different route. That was amazing.
They were also all very kind to each other. It was a competition, yes, and only one was going to win. But you didn’t feel that from them. They were all helping each other out, they were all talking, they were laughing, they were having a good time together. They were energetic and eager; they were the most amazing bunch of kids.
Other challenges include cooking for the Harlem Globetrotters and a field challenge at the Magic Castle. Had you ever been to the castle before? What was that like with the magicians?
No, I’d never been. I think magic is the coolest thing. I just never understand it. I’m one of those people that can just sit and think about a magic trick for hours. I can’t wrap my head around it. It was a real honor to be able to go there and be in this amazing building around these amazing magicians. What’s fun about that episode is us judges also tried to do our own magic tricks, which certainly were pretty funny to do and to watch. That was great.
Then the kids had a tough one cooking for a lot of people in teams. Again, I was just admiring the way they were able to do that. They’re between 8 and 13 years old and they’re cooking for over 20 guests as a team. You’re asking a lot of them, but they hold their own very well. I think because they’re so passionate about cooking they enjoy it and, again, you see that pride come through when they’re working in a team. That was a really cool day.
It’s hard to talk about just one challenge because I want to tell you everything and about all of them. It was so much fun.
CR: FOX
Apart from possibly following in your dad’s footsteps, do you have a dream? Do you have a goal you’re working toward?
I have a lot of dreams. I’m in the last year of my degree. I’m hopefully graduating in summer, which would be very exciting. A dream of mine was to go study psychology and learn all about it. I’ve always found it very interesting. So being able to do this and study has been amazing. I have lots of food dreams. I love the idea of everything my dad does and everything other amazing chefs do. I’m one of those people that I don’t like to plan too far ahead. I like to see how it goes and just enjoy the moment.
When you work with your dad, how is that different than when you’re at home? Does he treat you like the other judges, or does he still treat you like his daughter?
He treats me like the other judges. If I’m 10 seconds late to the morning meeting, he’s like, “Where are you? Come on, faster,” like he would to everyone. I think it’s such a privilege to be around everyone who works so hard there and you learn a lot from them all. Everyone’s putting their everything into it and their knowledge, it’s amazing to be around.
At home, dad’s the same. Dad’s always had a very strong work ethic. I’ve seen that from a young age, whether he has to be away to work or the long hours he has to work. I’d like to think that I have the same as him, a strong work ethic. He’s always said, “You’ve got to respect everything you’re doing, respect everyone you’re around.”
Related: Gordon Ramsay Shares Adorable Video of ‘Future Chef’ Son Making Breakfast
You’re at university now, but when you were living at home who would cook, your mom or your dad? How does she stack up against him?
I have to be honest. Dad hates me saying it, but it’s mom at home. Mom does the cooking most of the time. Dad does the occasions. Dad would do Christmas; he does the food then. But, yeah, most of the time it’s mom. She’s a great chef. Mom’s really good at doing proper family party food. Dad’s a bit more fine dining. On Christmas day, he’ll slice up the meat. But mom does the most delicious bolognese or a lasagna or just simple things like a quick pesto pasta. She’s always been able to make everything delicious. I see the way she cooks for my younger brother and gets him to eat a varied diet at a young age. She’s good at sneaking vegetables into places.
Do you have a favorite food? What do you like to cook?
Actually, in lockdown, I really got into traditional Sunday roast. Obviously, there wasn’t so much going on in the week that I was planning these roasts where I’d do homemade Yorkshire puddings or roast potatoes. I’d do either a chicken or some roast pork. Then you’ve got all the vegetables, you’ve got carrots, you’ve got cabbage, you’ve got all the sides. I really got into that because it’s also a really nice thing to do as a family, sit down in the evening and enjoy it. Then on the next day, we’ll use all the leftovers and make a delicious soup. I love doing that. I like to think I’d eat anything, to be honest. I’m massive on fish, I love all fish. Honestly, there’s nothing I don’t eat.
It’s interesting to me because I watch The Great British Baking Show. There’s so many things that are different in England, like a full English breakfast is completely different than what Sunday brunch would be here in America. How have you found the difference when you’ve come over for MasterChef Junior?
What I find so amazing is all these kids are from different states across America, and what was so exciting for me was being able to try things I maybe haven’t tried before. Whether it’s a side dish or different techniques of cooking, that was so great. Food connects people from around the world. You can share recipes, you can bond over the recipes, you can talk about differences, and learn from each other. I really, really appreciated being able to try things from all around the U.S.
CR: Greg Gayne/FOX
Several years back you had a cookbook Tilly’s Kitchen Takeover. You were just a teenager at that time. Are you thinking about doing another cookbook? If so, what would the idea be behind it?
I’d love to do another cookbook. What was so nice about that first book was it was based off recipes I’d done on a kids’ TV show with my family and the aim there was to get young kids inspired and to get them excited about cooking. I don’t feel like there were that many young chefs who were doing the same thing at the time. I enjoy hearing stories of, “I started cooking when I was this years old because of your book.” The recipes, they were very simple recipes and relatively easy things to something that was a bit harder, for after you’ve practiced and done different things.
Another book would be a dream, but I think it’s finding what’s going to make that book special to people, what about it’s going to inspire them. A lot of the things I focus on at the moment being at university is how do you make your money go further when you’re studying, spending 10 pounds in a weekly shop, and how are you going to make that go to all these meals? I think that’s a very interesting concept. Again, I’ve learned a lot through social media, watching people do budget meals and meal prep and planning. It’s all so exciting and I think you’ve just got to find that thing that inspires someone to buy that book and then try it themselves.
Season 9 of MasterChef Junior premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.
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