Gordon was only trying to help, but it seems the fiery chef has only made things worse for restaurant owners Francesco and Enrica Mattioli, who had to close The Walnut Tree – near Abergavenny – due to “involuntary insolvency” last month.

The couples recruited Ramsay as a trouble-shooter but now say the show had made the restaurant look too expensive, and regretted ever agreeing to take part.

Ramsay featured The Walnut Tree in his Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares series in 2004 – a golden opportunity, surely, to turn a struggling restaurant around.

The show, which has Ramsay visiting failing restaurants and turning them around in just a week, won a Bafta in 2005 and was nominated for an International Emmy in 2006. The chef clashed with Mr Mattioli over the price of dishes on the menu, singling out their £75 plateau de fruits de mer.

On the show, in a typical four-letter outburst, he said, “That price would be outrageous in London, let alone Aberga****ingvenny!”

The Walnut Tree was bought by Francesco and Enrica Mattioli in 2001, and once boasted a Michelin star.
They now say they blame their appearance on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares for driving customers away.

Enrica Mattioli says, “It was a mistake. It made us look like we were too expensive. It put people off.

“We did have customers with Bentleys and Porsches but we didn’t want people to feel intimidated by this. Everybody was welcome.

“There was a honeymoon period after the show when people came to try us out but this was short-lived.

“After a couple of weeks it went back to normal.”

It seems that the couple weren’t told the name of the show when they signed up and were shocked when they read in a promotional interview for the series that Ramsay thought their menu was the most overpriced he’d come across.

Enrica Mattioli said at the time, “We agreed to the filming because my husband knew Gordon from London and because Gordon himself rang and said it’s going to be really good for you, it’s good advertising because it’s going to go on national television. He said, ‘I know you’ve had problems and I can help you out’.”

Not so, it seems – even though compared to some of the other restaurants featured on the makeover show The Walnut Tree’s problems were relatively minor. Ramsay’s recruited a new head chef and recommended they drop their prices, but with the Mattiolis’ business now up for sale it does resemble, well – a bloody nightmare.

“We put everything we’ve got into this,” lamented Mrs Mattioli.

Her husband is now a chef at a London restaurant. She plans to join him after the Walnut Tree is sold off.