Now Gordon gives Abi hell

Gordon Ramsay will be facing questions today over whether he has taken the abuse of his Hell's Kitchen celebrity contestants too far after haranguing Abi Titmuss in a foul-mouthed tirade so fierce it left her in floods of tears.

The fiery 45-year-old chef shouted Titmuss down in a 60-second diatribe with his face pressed inches from hers. And his reasoning for this astonishing incident? He caught the former nurse giggling on two separate occasions.

Clearly at the end of his tether, Ramsay towered over her and yelled: "Every time I look around you're f***ing giggling. This is f***ing serious. We're so f***ing close to getting it spot on and you think this is a f***ing joke."

And so the abuse went on until Titmuss, 26, looked visibly shocked and later broke down in tears. After the incident Titmuss said: "I couldn't believe it, he only looked at me on two occasions, and each time, I was giggling, out of nervousness more than anything."

Ramsay's torrent will probably be put down to pressure by show producers but for viewers it was disturbing to watch. Two other female celebrities, Belinda Carlisle and Amanda Barrie, were also reduced to tears.

But Edwina Currie is proving more resilient and after Ramsay let fire at her, she simply shrugged and said: "Yes - he's going to kill me."

Strip club boss Peter Stringfellow, a guest in the restaurant last night, putting the incident down to "sexual chemistry" and urged Titmuss to hit back. He said: "Go on girl - hit him."

Meanwhile the show's television audience has dropped from more than seven million to less than five million.