Who can't take the heat?

With two chefs walking out and others threatening to follow, all Gordon Ramsay needed was his Hell's Kitchen customers turning on him.

But with his team numbering only eight after Dwain Chambers and Tommy Vance quit, the diners became his new enemy.

At the start of the week, clients on the ITV reality show could not even be certain of a meal, with 40 out of 70 of them going home hungry. Last night they managed to get fed but the complaints still poured in.

Comedian Vic Reeves said: "I had the soup and the frogs - but I asked for egg and chips. Then Ramsay took umbrage. I don't know what his problem is. It was quite a simple order."

Reeves then banged his head on the table. Show host Angus Deayton replied: "There must be a cheaper place to go for egg and chips than Gordon Ramsay's." Other guests lining up to complain were former BBC royal correspondent Jenny Bond and Nicholas Owen.

Ramsay hit back with his usual diplomacy: "I'm not having any of it - any more of this bullshit. These f***ing food critics are in and now they are sending the soufflés back - things are hard enough as they are."

He promised to make life easier by adapting the menu. He also poured out praise, calling Jennifer Ellison a "good girl" and telling James Dreyfus to "stay cool - don't panic".