Hell’s Kitchen Gordon Ramsay on Replacing Paula and Tackling the Iron Man

Hell’s Kitchen super-chef Gordon Ramsay has always been one tough dude. Now the straight-talking Brit is eating lean and mean so that he can get in shape to compete in an American ‘Iron Man’ event. He also opens up about being up for another tough gig: American Idol judge.

The 42-year-old Scottish multi-millionaire - who just recently completed his 10th marathon in London - has changed both the way he eats and cooks at home to stay in tip-top condition and gave RadarOnline.com the rundown of his routine.

“I’ve totally cut-out dairy and butter and I’m using much cleaner cooking techniques like steaming, nothing is fried now,” he revealed.

“In the morning I have a fresh fruit smoothie and I’m eating plenty of salads and fresh fruit while I’m only eating white meat now.”

Ramsay is going on grueling runs each day with a back pack loaded full of weights as he prepares his body for the 2010 Iron Man event in Florida.

And the mega-successful chef – who is preparing for the finale of this year’s Hell’s Kitchen on Fox – admits he got a jolt when 400-lb. chef Robert Hesse had to pull out of the competition because of severe chest pains.

“Yes, that was scary and I was really concerned for Robert as he was a very talented chef,” admitted Ramsay. “But cooking these days is very ‘high pressure’ and chefs have to look after themselves and try and stay fit. Robert struggled with that mind-set but he is an amazing guy and I’m sure he will get himself in shape again.”

Ramsay believes that this year’s Hell’s Kitchen finalists Paula DaSilva and Danny Veltri are the best the show has ever had and that it will be a close call to choose the eventual winner. He added: “They are both great chefs who would have won any of our previous seasons of Hell’s Kitchen for sure. Paula is very single-minded, very calm in the kitchen but amazingly creative too while Danny is very bold and ambitious with his cooking and is great in the kitchen and a very quick learner.”

Ramsay is currently filming a new series of his Kitchen Nightmares show in New York where he goes into restaurants that are on the brink of closure and tries to turn them around. And despite the hectic schedule, the fiery chef joked that if fellow Brit Simon Cowell decides to step-down from judging American Idol then he would step in as a replacement next to Paula Abdul.

“Sure, why not? I could do that job no problem,” he said.

(Photo: Splash News)