The Home Made by Tana Ramsay author was dating Gordon’s friend when they met

Gordon Ramsay and his wife Tana are childhood sweethearts having met when they were 26 and 18 respectively.

Despite their fairytale romance including two weddings and five children spanning over two decades, Tana admitted that it wasn’t initially love at first sight. The Home Made by Tana Ramsay author, 49, said the celebrity chef, 56, came across as “so arrogant” with a “larger than life” character when they met.

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“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,” Tana told People in a new family interview.

Despite her initial thoughts, the former schoolteacher got to know the Hell’s Kitchen star after her split from fellow chef Tim and the rest is history!

The couple got married in December 1996 in Chelsea, London with Tana stepping out in a satin wedding dress with a V-neck and full skirt. Gordon and Tana went on to welcome five children: Megan, 24, twins Jack and Holly, 22, Matilda, 20, and Oscar, who turned three in April. Tana also sadly suffered a miscarriage in 2016, five months into her pregnancy.

Looking back at their home life, Tana said they relocated from a home to a modest two-bedroom flat at the start of their marriage in order to fund the opening of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 1998.

“We moved into a small two-bedroom flat. Then I got pregnant with twins, and we’re in an apartment with literally no space to swing a cat. But it was fine because that doesn’t make you happy,” she recalled.

Following Gordon’s successful career, they now own two stunning homes in London and L.A. The Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares star joked that his older children get “upset” about the time he and Tana spend with their youngest son, who joins them when they film in America.

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“The three of us are always together, and that upsets the other four,” he said. “We say, ‘Hey, you’ve had your time with Mom and Dad! It’s Oscar’s time.’”

However, Tana clarified that Gordon misses his children just as much, adding that when they’re apart, “Gordon likes to phone [the children] about 25 times a day.”