Gordon Ramsay has hosted more successful reality TV than anyone else

Whether you consider him a talented culinary entrepreneur or a self-promoter, Gordon Ramsay has hosted more successful reality TV than anyone else. Below, we interview the notoriously volatile chef and producer about the upcoming 18th season of Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen, asking him about his favorite food criticisms and guilty snack secrets. Plus, we discuss NatGeo’s upcoming controversial show Uncharted, CBS’ attempt to import Love Island, and what he thinks is the secret to his longevity in Hollywood.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So what’s unique about this season of Hell’s Kitchen?

GORDON RAMSAY: I’m excited about the new recruits, the young, hungry talent who doesn’t have the money to go to culinary school yet. They don’t want to leave culinary school with $100,000 in debt. So they’re warriors. They’re millennials who learned on YouTube. They’ve taken classes and they’re raw talent. I wanted to give All-Stars a kick in the ass and pit the rookies against the pros. It’s an interesting mix. It’s just an incredibly competitive look into the culinary world and they’ve had some diamonds in the rough this year that have honed their talent beyond belief. This is the best season we’ve ever done.

Seriously, did you do the best out of 18?

Without a doubt.

How do you still handle the outrage that the new contestants can’t cook?

I have indigestion. If it’s not Pepto-Bismol, it’s Xantac to control my damn heartburn. The biggest problem from a chef’s perspective is that people think they can cook because they’ve hosted a dinner party. They think they can transfer that skill from running a six-story or ten-story restaurant to running a restaurant. I applaud that attitude. Can you name a single athlete or incredibly successful person in the world who doesn’t have some sort of attitude?

You’ve said a lot of colorful things to contestants over the years. Some of them, the silly sandwich and the SpongeBob thing, have become online memes. What’s your favorite rebuke to a contestant of all time?