While on set of his PEOPLE cover shoot, the Kitchen Nightmares chef exclusively revealed that he’ll start filming a new Fox show, Idiot Sandwich, in November.
The name comes from one of Ramsay’s most memorable and meme-worthy moments that saw him put two slices of bread on either side of Julie Chen Moonves’ face. “What are you?” he screamed. “An idiot sandwich!” she, of course, responded.
With 13 million views on YouTube, many fans have taken the confrontation as genuine, but Ramsay clarifies it’s actually from a 2015 parody skit from The Late Late Show with James Corden.
For almost 10 years, the meme has truly “gone ballistic,” Ramsay tells PEOPLE.
The Michelin-starred chef shared details about the show, which will shoot in Las Vegas, on his Instagram Story Tuesday, including an application form. “Are you an Idiot Sandwich? If so, can you prove it to me live?” Ramsay said in the clip, adding that “you don’t need to be a chef to apply.”
The application description spelled out the perks for competing on the show. “The person whose sandwich impresses Chef Ramsay the most, will walk away with a cash prize and the ultimate title, being crowned Gordon Ramsay’s Idiot Sandwich!” it read.
Ramsay tells PEOPLE about how the “idiot sandwich” meme is inescapable when he’s out in public — especially with his young fans.
“Wherever I go, there's some young kid somewhere that wants to be called an 'idiot sandwich,' ” he says.
Aside from the constant references and now, the show, the meme has morphed into several lives of its own. In fact, Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Caesars Palace sells “Idiot Sandwich” earmuffs. “It's one of the best-selling things in Vegas,” he says.
While his foul-mouthed, fiery side may be at the forefront on his various Fox shows, Ramsay is a real “softie” at home. A dad to five, he shares daughter Megan, 25, twins Jack and Holly, 23 daughter Matilda (“Tilly”), 21, and son Oscar, with his wife, Tana, 49.
“The kids have brought the most emotion out of me,” Ramsay tells PEOPLE in this week's issue on stands Friday. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Because everyone thinks, ‘God, you must be an absolute ass to be at home with.’ [But] Tana’s super fierce, an ex-Montessori school teacher. So I’m the softie.”
Tana, a cookbook author who married Ramsay in 1996, said he’s always been a “larger than life” character: “I remember when I first met him [at 18]—and I was actually dating one of his friends—I said, ‘Oh my God, he’s so arrogant,’ because it’s always his voice you heard. He was always the one riling everyone up. In that respect, he has not changed at all. It’s just gotten more obvious. But at the same time, he is, believe it or not, incredibly sensitive—he’s a crier.”
Ramsay gets especially worked up sharing his pride for his “amazing” children. “Jack’s a Royal Marine commando, off defending the country in some of the most extreme conditions,” he said. “Megan’s an incredible police officer. Holly’s gone into fashion. Tilly’s studying at university for her degree. Tana and I came from a family with no degrees.”
Despite his pride, Ramsay joked about his disappointment that none of his kids are necessarily following his career path.
“I’m more concerned there’s no one following in my footsteps. Unbeknownst to Tana, I’ll go upstairs and stick [kitchen tools] in Oscar’s hand so he wakes up like that, with a spoon and a whisk, thinking, ‘What the f--- are these for?’ ” he quipped.