Gordon Gino & Fred American Road Trip

Press Pack

Strictly embargoed until 00.01am on Tuesday 24 March 2020

Series Overview With a BAFTA-nomination and TV Choice Award under their belts following series one last year, Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix are back and this time their RV is hitting the highways of Mexico and the USA for their most outrageous road trip yet. Taking in the sights and culinary delights of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Texas and Tijuana, the trio’s antics will include wallet-busting burgers, dune buggy racing, goat yoga, spear fishing, cowboy capers, fine wines and wild wrestling. What could possibly go wrong? Featuring extreme adventures, sumptuous feasts and their own distinctive brand of bickering and ego-bashing, this is food on tour like never before. And with all three amigos battling it out to be king of the kitchen as well as king of the road, prepare for more bad behaviour, banter and bromance than ever before.

Episode 1: The Three Amigos (Mexico) x75mins

Episode 2: City Slickers (Las Vegas and Los Angeles) x60mins

Episode 3: Summer of Love (San Fran and Napa) x60mins

Episode 4: Brokeback Mountain (Texas) x60mins

Programme Information – Episode 1

Episode 1 – The Three Amigos. TX: Thursday 2 April 2020 at 9pm TBC PI embargoed until 00.01am on Tuesday 24 March 2020. The three amigos and their three big egos are back on the road again on a brand-new culinary adventure across Mexico and the USA. This time Gordon, Gino and Fred are seeking out the most memorable ingredients, amazing wines and spectacular scenery as Gordon goes on a mission to prove to Gino and Fred that the food across the pond lives up to its reputation of being bigger and better. But with Gino and Fred being loyal to their ‘old world’ European ways, can they be convinced….? Taking in the sights and culinary delights of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Texas and Tijuana, the trio’s antics will include tasting wallet-busting burgers, dune buggy racing, goat yoga, spear fishing, cowboy capers, fine wines and wild wrestling. What could possibly go wrong? Featuring extreme adventures, sumptuous feasts and their own distinctive brand of bickering and ego-bashing, this is food on tour like never before. And with all three battling it out to be king of the kitchen as well as king of the road, prepare for more bad behaviour, banter and bromance than ever before. In episode one, the guys pick up their mammoth new RV, nicknamed ‘Betty the Beast’ and begin their trip in Mexico in search of ‘The Best Breakfast in the World’. On the way they sample Mexico’s most famous drink – Tequila. Fred explains: “Tequila back home has got a bad reputation, it’s all about getting drunk. But here it’s totally different.” As Fred does his best to explain the distilling process and get them to appreciate the different flavours, Gino is busy knocking them back like water and Gordon complains it burns his throat… Next the trio head to one of Mexico’s most famous food markets but on the way, argue about who has the most discerning palate. Gordon tells Gino: “I’ve got a better palate than both of you put together. You know that. I saw the Gino’s Great Escape and it’s just tomato and mozzarella in every episode.” To put them to the test, Gordon and Gino decide to take part in a blindfolded chilli-tasting session at the market, with eye-watering consequences. One-hundred-and-fifty varieties of chilli are grown in Mexico, so Fred has many to choose from as he feeds his friends chillies which get hotter and hotter…. Afterwards, Gordon says: “You’ve just destroyed my palate. One of the finest on the planet!” Gino says: “Ah that’s not fun. I’m sweating. My eyes. We’re gonna go. We need to go and get toilet paper.” Next the boys pull on their wetsuits and climb aboard a game-fishing boat to try their luck with spear fishing. But with Gino suffering from a hangover, he stays on deck leaving Gordon to dive in with the spear gun.

Gordon naturally spears every fish he aims for whilst Fred is in charge of putting them in the net, but afterwards Fred says: “It was full of fish down there, like a supermarket. Even if you were blind and couldn’t fish and couldn’t swim, you were sure to get a fish.” After catching the fish, Gordon and Fred hand over to Gino to cook them and serve up lunch. Gordon gets back behind the wheel of the RV and after a few arguments, scrapes and near misses, they pull up at a desert racing track to take part in a Baja 400 race and work out once and for all who is the best driver. Gordon says: “Three laps of the track and the winner gets the biggest prize of all – bragging rights.” Strapped into desert buggies and fuelled by petrol, testosterone and competitive spirit the trio set off at full speed, bouncing and flying around the course and doing whatever it takes to get into pole position. The stakes are high but none of them are prepared for what happens next… After their race Gordon, Gino and Fred get back on the road and finally arrive at Valle de Guadalupe the site of ‘The Best Breakfast in the World’ which is a dish of spiced shredded beef with refried beans scrambled eggs and fresh tortillas. Restaurant owner Doña Esthela says she serves 2000 customers a day, so, to give her a break, Gordon offers to cook her a full-English breakfast with a Mexican twist and Gino as his reluctant sous chef. As the boys head towards the border, they stop at Caesar’s Restaurant, birthplace of the Caesar Salad, where they sample the original recipe before Gordon decides to create his own version. And finally, before they leave Mexico, Fred takes Gordon and Gino to watch some traditional Mexican wrestling. They are soon persuaded not just to watch, but to take part. Wearing their very own personalised costumes…it’s time for the three amigos to step up to the plate. Produced by Studio Ramsay for ITV.

GORDON RAMSAY INTERVIEW What can viewers expect to see in the new series? Viewers can expect to see the three Amigos in my American back garden doing things in a very American way…BIGGER and BOLDER. And while the camper van is bigger here, we are exploring some places I haven’t seen either. We’re having fun exploring America through food, activities and of course some rivalry. And no one was injured while we were exploring…only during some friendly competition… After last year’s trip and the competitiveness between the three of you, how did you feel about getting on the road again? I thought we’d be like three brothers, continuing to push each other to our extremes. But, since America is like a second home to me, they decided to listen to me…selectively. One thing is for sure, I was not going to let Gino drive. What appealed to you about the route this time? Anything in particular you were looking forward to? The route is a breath of fresh air for all of us. We have a vague connection to some of the locations, but truly we are all experiencing a lot of things for the first time. I was looking forward to Mexico the most, I haven’t explored that part of the country so much but was ready to see what their food, wine and culture had to bring to the table. What was your favourite moment or experience on this trip? It had to be in Mexico, becoming Luchadores. You see these overweight guys jumping on each other and think it’s not that hard, but trust me it is! And the moment when you’re fighting with the crowd cheering behind you, it was truly an incredible experience that I’ll never forget. Did you cook anything unusual? Best and worst food or drink experience?

Nothing too unusual, I’m sure Gino and Fred were hoping I’d make a marijuana-laced dish in San Francisco, but that did not happen. I think the best experience food-wise had to be the BBQ at Snow’s BBQ in Texas. Some of the most incredible meat I’ve had. The worst, had to be the tequila. I am not a big tequila drinker but when you give Fred and Gino tequila, a tasting turns into a fiesta. Can you tell us a bit about some of the activities? We had some amazing activities this season. From wrestling with the Luchadores in Mexico, to hot air balloons in Bay Area, to racing in buggies in Mexico, grape stomping, fishing in Texas…there’s no shortage of activities where we are being competitive! And of course, like any boys’ road-trip, it’s filled with a few pranks and lots of laughs along the way. What was the most annoying thing each of your companions did on the trip? Gino needing a nap or a cappuccino on standby. Fred with his selfies. Whilst I of course, was an angel…

GINO D’ACAMPO INTERVIEW How did you feel about getting back on the road with Gordon and Fred again? It felt amazing. Really amazing. When something works that well as a relationship between three men as friends, you think that if you do it again you are not going to have the same feelings. But the feelings were even bigger this time. It’s true friendship that we have. It’s like three brothers. You’ve got Gordon that is the big brother so he knows everything, he’s the master of everything. Then you’ve got Fred which is the brother in the middle which tries to kind of balance things between us and make sure everything is alright and then I’m the little brother, who doesn’t give a flying **ck. I don’t care about anything. I’m in my own zone. So, they do both get annoyed with me. What appealed to you about the route you have done this time? We went to Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico and Texas. I’ve never been in none of those places before in my life. Never. To be honest with you I was mostly excited to be with the boys, I didn’t really care where we were. Actually, most of the time I wasn’t really sure where I was. We could have been in the middle of the desert somewhere, I don’t really care. I just wanted to be with them. What was your favourite thing on the trip? I really liked Vegas and also LA. It’s quite cool. Those are party cities which is great. I wasn’t sure about Texas, it’s too big and too macho, the cowboy stuff, it’s not really what I do. The thing I thought was totally insane was doing goat yoga in San Francisco. I mean we did a lot of insane things but…on this day, first we went into a place where you can eat marijuana legally, to sample the taste of it with food. After about an hour of that, we did the goat yoga. You are on all fours and the goat goes on your back to massage it. But I was in a state of mind by then that, well, I can’t explain. Fred was crying laughing. Gordon took it all very seriously, of course. I was just out of my head. It was an experience-and-a-half. The best thing I have ever done in television. Can you tell us about the Mexican wrestling? Fred organised this tequila tasting which I got hammered on, to a level that I have never been hammered before. Fred just sips. And Gordon just pretends. But I drink. So, I ended up dancing in a Mexican bar, with these Mexican singers with their guitars. Then Fred made friends with some wrestlers and says, ‘Let’s go and see them train’. I didn’t do the training, it wasn’t for me. I was making guacamole instead because I said that’s too sweaty, too hot. But then at the end I did a move where I jumped about eight feet from the ground and jumped on them all. So we won. It was quite cool. I nearly broke my neck. But it’s fine. Any favourite food experiences on the trip? We went in search of this famous best breakfast in the world. This lady had won the competition for the best breakfast. So, we found it and wow. It looked like scrambled egg with meat. It was excellent. As flavours, as technique, it’s something I will never forget. Gordon and I sometimes prepared breakfast together. One day we went to a Chinese house so we cooked Chinese food together. We did a BBQ in Texas together. Also, the boys went fishing but I couldn’t be bothered to go fishing so I bought a trout from a fisherman instead. I hate fishing. I cooked it for the boys, by the lake. That was good. We’ve heard that when you were facetiming your son, he was with Gordon’s daughter and you found out they were dating? Yes. I facetime my son Luciano during the trip and he was in a restaurant and he was saying ‘Hi’ to Gordon and all of a sudden, Tilly appears. Look, I don’t care, it’s nothing to do with me, but Gordon cares, of course. Because if something happens serious then Matilda will be called Matilda D’Acampo! Gordon hates that. Can you imagine it?

What was the most annoying thing each of your companions did on the trip? Oh that’s easy. Gordon is very competitive and so is Fred. I don’t give a sh**. That is the honest truth. I’m not competitive at all. Not in the slightest. I have no interest in winning, losing, anything like that. It’s the other two that always fight for everything and compete for everything. Gordon goes at 100-miles-an-hour. He works every day, things need to be done in a certain way. I am the opposite, I’m about how many holidays I can take in a year, I’m not about how many days’ work I can do. And Fred is in the middle. Sometimes refereeing, sometimes says Gino is right, sometimes says Gordon is right. He’s the most sensible one. Gordon always goes on that he is the best at everything. And Fred is like David Attenborough. He gives you all this information that no-one really cares about. Like, how many population there is. Where the food comes from. Never stops talking. So, I’ve got this French, David Attenborough on my left and Gordon - this mad, Scottish, competitive guy on my right. I mean - so annoying. When you’ve been up all night and you’re just starting the day. I want to sleep. I want a coffee. Not this. But look, it was amazing… Would you do it again? I’m going to make sure we do it again! Even if it’s not for television. If we never do this again we promised each other we will do a trip for two weeks, no matter what. Filming or not. We will do it every year anyway. I don’t think people understand but what happens with us, there is magic. It’s awesome. They are just awesome.

FRED SIRIEIX INTERVIEW How did you feel about getting back on the road together again? I was really looking forward to it, much more so than the first series. We all went with a very positive mindset, we travelled over together and as soon as we were together, we hit it off, the party started. And then it never ended!!! What appealed to you about the route this time? I’d never been to any of these places before. I knew nothing about where we were going, it was all new. I was like a puppy with open eyes just looking at everything, taking it in and being excited. I learned, I enjoyed myself, I had fun, I met amazing people, I had such a good time that during my last piece to camera I cried! I was emotionally overwhelmed because it was such an amazing trip. I just can’t explain. I will take it to my grave - what a wonderful trip we had. Any personal highlights from the trip? The fun. It’s all still in my head because I’m still laughing to myself. I’m on my bike cycling to work or in a meeting and I just burst out laughing – having flashbacks of the things that we did. In Mexico, we were just supposed to be doing a Caesar salad but it turned into a comedy show because Gordon was all excited, speaking so fast, demonstrating and doing his thing so serious and then he dropped a plate, then another plate fell on the floor which Gino had pushed, and I was just laughing and laughing and the more I laughed the more Gordon was getting annoyed with me and Gino - telling us we were unprofessional. Oh my. I still have the cramps from laughing so much. Everything was amazing. Maybe the wrestling was my favourite. We met these Mexican wrestlers in a bar and none of us have done wrestling, I mean I’ve done trained fighting before in a ring, but not wrestling. So these guys taught us on a crash course for 90-minutes training and it was nuts. It was very physical and painful. It took me four days to recover! They said, ‘Let’s put on a show’ and they invited 60 people! Gino copped out. Gordon was s***ing himself before we came out. I had to give him a pep talk. Then we walked out to the ring, pumped up like boxers… Any other favourite activities? We also went fishing, and on a hot air balloon in the Napa Valley over the vineyards – beautiful. Racing with some sand buggies… We also went to this ranch in Arizona and we herded cattle, like the cowboys used to do in 1850 on a horse, we learned how to lasso. So much fun. It was an eventful trip… Did you eat or drink or cook anything unusual? Gino cooked a beautiful trout, in Arizona near the Colorado river, we caught it and he grilled it and fried it and that was delicious actually. We were stressing him out but it was actually so good. And we went to the birthplace of the Caesar Salad. The service everywhere was amazing, the way people look after you in America, they really make you feel looked after and they want to please you. I haven’t had a single bad experience. If they say coffee is coming then it’s coming. And with a smile. It was fantastic really. The standard was really high. Even the chicken sh** bingo place in Texas, that was funny. Gordon started to dance and he’s got two left feet. You’ve got to embrace it. Only in America. Who was the best driver? Oh it was bad. Gino is very bad because he’s Italian and he thinks he is fun. People were swearing at us. Gordon bumped the RV twice. I’m more cautious with my driving but they are just nuts because they are always competing and always shouting. They destroyed that RV on the trip. It was completely destroyed. How would you describe your companions on this trip?

With sport I am competitive with Gordon but that’s it. But Gordon always says he’s the best. But no-one is the best at everything. But usually no-one ever tells Gordon that he’s wrong, so I tell him as it is. If I disagree with him, I tell him and he’s not used to that and he doesn’t like it. But I love them. I really do. The thing with people is you have to take them for who they are and you have to accept their flaws and their good points. Gordon is very annoying because he’s always right and if you start to argue then you are going to fallout for days, so you have to let it go. Gino never wants to do anything and he’s always moaning but you just have to ignore it and you have to take the rough with the smooth. But they are good people. Fundamentally it’s about how good you are inside your heart. They are good people. I love them. That’s why it’s interesting because we are all so different and we probably should never be on a road trip together, but it works. It works because we have fun. A lot of fun. These guys are exceptional. Gordon is a force of nature like no one I’ve ever met before. I am very inspired by him. And I’m very inspired by Gino because his life philosophy is - minimum effort, maximum satisfaction. I like that. My thing is to enjoy life, to learn and to make a difference. And when I’m with them I feel like I can do all three things. I don’t have to agree with them, but it was the trip of a lifetime. I couldn’t have done this trip with anyone else. I can go with my family, my parents, my partner but I’m not going to have as much fun. I would do it all over again. But I need to rest first!!!

Please credit: ‘Gordon Gino & Fred American Road Trip’ starts on Thursday 2 April at 9pm on ITV.

Press Contacts Lyndsey Large (Mon-Tues) Lyndsey.Large@itv.com 0207 157 3029 Hannah Green (Weds - Fri) Hannah.Green@itv.com 0207 157 3029 Pictures: Peter Gray Peter.Gray@itv.com 0207 157 3046