ITV slapped with Ofcom ruling after failing to edit out Gordon Ramsay swear word outburst

Ofcom has ruled that ITV committed a clear breach of broadcasting regulations after uncensored subtitles displaying Gordon Ramsay's f-word appeared on screen during a morning repeat of Food Stars USA on ITV2.

The incident occurred on May 2, when the programme aired at 8:25am, more than 12 hours ahead of the 9pm watershed.

The f-word featured twice in the on-screen closed captions.

Although all profanity had been bleeped from the audio track and replaced with the standard censorship tone, the accompanying subtitles had not undergone the same editing process.

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Viewers who had captions enabled were therefore exposed to the 59-year-old celebrity chef's unfiltered language at a time when Ofcom's code strictly prohibits the most offensive words from being broadcast.

ITV explained that the subtitles had been produced from an unedited version of the programme, which had not been edited to remove offensive language.

The channel said these captions were created in June 2025, before it had put in place its current quality control procedures.

Since being alerted to the error, ITV2 has introduced additional safeguards, including measures to flag discrepancies between versions of a programme in its broadcast scheduling system so that issues can be spotted and rectified before transmission.

The broadcaster also confirmed that every subtitled edition of Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars USA has been reviewed in the wake of the blunder.

Internal guidance on verifying entries within the scheduling system has been strengthened as a further preventative measure.

In its written ruling, the regulator highlighted that this was a pre-recorded programme, meaning ITV2 had every opportunity to review the content before it went to air.

Ofcom also noted that the channel failed to broadcast an on-air apology after the episode had finished.

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"In this case, the broadcast of the words at 08:25 was a clear example of the most offensive language being broadcast before the watershed," the ruling stated.

It added: "Further, we considered there was no on-air apology made by ITV2 following the broadcast."

While Ofcom acknowledged the remedial steps ITV said it had taken to prevent a repeat occurrence, the regulator concluded that these measures did nothing to mitigate the offence already caused to viewers by the original broadcast.

Mr Ramsay's colourful vocabulary has landed ITV in hot water on more than one occasion.

Earlier this year, This Morning presenter Ben Shephard was forced to apologise live on air after the chef let slip an expletive during a cooking segment alongside his daughter Tilly.

Mr Ramsay had been discussing his daughter Holly's wedding to Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty and bickering with Tilly when he knocked over a container of soy sauce and swore on camera.

Mr Shephard swiftly intervened, telling viewers: "Just in case that spilled into the classic Ramsay work, apologies.

"We are live. I'm just pre-empting a strike."

Mr Ramsay protested his innocence, insisting: "I said shoot! Ben - come on, Ben!"

Ofcom research has found that audiences have particular objections to the f-word being broadcast on television.

GB News has reached out to ITV for comment.

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