Journalist hits back at 'arrogant narcissist' Gordon Ramsay

Australian journalist Tracy Grimshaw has labelled Gordon Ramsay (inset) a bully and a narcissist after he described her as 'a lesbian' and likened her to a pig. Photos / Getty Images

They've never been friends. He's an "arrogant narcissist" and a bully. And no, she's not gay.

So says Tracy Grimshaw, host of the Nine Network's A Current Affair programme, who's hit back after being publicly denigrated by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in Melbourne on Saturday.

Before an audience of several thousand people at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show, following an interview with Grimshaw the previous day, Ramsay described her as "a lesbian".

He then showed a picture of a woman, who appeared naked. The woman was posed on her hands and knees but had multiple breasts and the facial features of a pig.

"That's Tracy Grimshaw," he said.

"I had an interview with her yesterday - holy crap. She needs to see Simon Cowell's Botox doctor."

Ramsay's publicist later said the comments were a joke and that Ramsay and Grimshaw had a good relationship.

Ramsay made further digs at the A Current Affair host in his appearances at the show on Sunday and yesterday.

Grimshaw was having none of it, returning fire with a withering editorial during her show last night.

She said Ramsay and his publicist asked before her interview that she not ask about his private life - Ramsay's image has taken a battering after an alleged extra-marital affair made headlines earlier this year.

"... Gordon Ramsay made me promise not to ask on Friday about his private life. He then got on stage on Saturday and made some very clear and uninformed insinuations about mine," Grimshaw told viewers.

"Obvious Gordon thinks that any woman who doesn't find him attractive must be gay.

"For the record, I don't. And I'm not."

Grimshaw said she had no idea what prompted Ramsay's spray.

"Gordon Ramsay has always had fair and generous treatment on this programme but despite what his publicist said in damage control, we do not have a great relationship. We do not have a relationship at all," she said.

"I've played along with him in interviews because it's entertaining, and that's my job, and I walk away afterwards and I don't think about him again."

The comments were no joke, she said.

"I was absolutely miserable when I found out late Saturday afternoon. He says it's a joke. Well, not to me or anyone who cares about me," she said.

"Truly, I wonder how many people would laugh if they were effectively described as an old, ugly pig."

Grimshaw said she had been unsure whether or not to respond to the jibes.

"But we all know that bullies thrive when no one takes them on, and I'm not going to sit meekly and let some arrogant narcissist bully me," she said.

- AAP