Gordon Ramsay 'Sorry' for sexist rant

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has apologised for publicly insulting Australian current affairs presenter Tracy Grimshaw but claims his controversial comments were blown out of proportion.

Ramsay - who compared Grimshaw to a pig during a live performance in Australia last weekend - has unreservedly apologised to Ms Grimshaw, a spokesman for the chef said.

The spokesman said the controversial British star realised his remarks at a Melbourne cooking show last weekend were "inappropriate and offensive".

"His comments relating to Tracy Grimshaw, who had interviewed Gordon the previous evening, were off the cuff and in response to heckling from the audience," he told Sky News in London.

"His intention was to make a joke and indeed he did raise a big laugh at the time.

"However, with hindsight he realises that his comments were inappropriate and offensive to Tracy Grimshaw. "And he has unreservedly apologised both to her and anybody else who may who may have been upset."

Earlier, Ramsay had branded Grimshaw "sad" and "bitter" for defending herself after she used her A Current Affair program on Monday to take him to task over his weekend rant.

He denied calling the Nine Network veteran a lesbian while appearing at Melbourne's Good Food and Wine Show during which he also allegedly compared her to a pig, using an offensive photo as a prop.

Ramsay said he was "deeply mortified" that his intended joke had been blown out of proportion - and that was before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the chef's comments reflected a "new form of low life".

Mr Rudd's deputy Julia Gillard and Health Minister Nicola Roxon joined the fray, saying Ramsay should confine himself to the kitchen and stop abusing women.

Ramsay said he'd never used the word "lesbian" to describe Grimshaw, and said she was guilty of a "disgusting" attack on his wife Tana, who's due in Australia in two weeks.

On Monday, Grimshaw called Ramsay a bully and an "arrogant narcissist".

She said he'd made "uninformed insinuations" at the food show about her sexuality, and she told her viewers she was not gay.

The fallout from Ramsay's rant has gone global, spreading to the UK, US and New Zealand.

Britain's press seized on the story, particularly after Rudd weighed in.

US celebrity watcher Perez Hilton said Ramsay had gone too far with his "sexist, homophobic remarks".