Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is almost as well known for his deep furrowed brow as he is for his notoriously foul language. Perhaps not surprising, given the time he spends scowling and shouting.
Aesthetics aren't exactly of prime importance to your average chef who is confined backstage in the kitchen, but Ramsey is no ordinary chef. Given his rising-star status across the globe, could his deep wrinkles be chipping away at his self-confidence?
According to recent reports, the Kitchen Nightmare host has been quoted joking about the fact he treated himself to a Botox session on a recent trip to the United States. Botox injections are a popular treatment to relax forehead frown lines, with more than one million people estimated to have undergone the procedure.
Ramsey isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, male celeb to have the Botox finger pointed at them. Everyone from Brad Pitt, George Clooney and pensioner Michael Douglas have been under scrutiny in light of their rejuvenated hides. Taking it to a whole new level, of course, are those faces of yesteryear, such as Mickey Rourke, who are now hardly recognisable after some suspect face work.
The pressure to maintain youth it seems is no longer confined to women. With hoards of new talent on the horizon, the guys are also fighting to keep up in the race for those starring roles. What happened to the dashing appeal of grey hair and a face that told a story?
While it seems no one is admitting to a little help from the botulinum toxin, it's only a matter of time before one of the smooth-faced over-40s men will have to fess up — after all, women are admitting it left right and centre.
As for love-him or hate-him Mr Ramsay, his spokesman insists the notion of him undergoing Botox is laughable. "Gordon would be the first person to mercilessly take the p*** out of anyone that has had surgery," the spokesman says.
Perhaps so, but the less crumpled visage of the chef does suggest he's doing something differently. Perhaps more beauty sleep, less swearing and cutting down on time in the kitchen? No, we didn't think so either.
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