Gordon Ramsay says COVID-19 'wiped the slate clean' of bad restaurants in prime locations

• Gordon Ramsay has said that COVID-19 restrictions "wiped the slate clean" for restaurants.
• Speaking to Radio Times, he said the last two years have been "devastating" for the industry.

Gordon Ramsay said that COVID-19 restrictions have "wiped the slate clean" for restaurants in a new interview published on Tuesday.

Speaking to former UK shadow chancellor Ed Balls in the latest issue of TV magazine Radio Times, Ramsay said the silver lining of COVID-19 is that bad restaurants "in a prime location" have been wiped from the map, adding that "the crap's gone," according to The Independent.

The 55-year-old celebrity chef, who told the Guardian last year that his restaurants were down £60 million, or $79 million, due to COVID-19 restrictions, also said in his Radio Times interview that the last two years have been "devastating" to the hospitality industry.

Ramsay said that he expects there to be an upwards shift in the quality of restaurants on offer as a result. "It's wiped the arrogance from the industry," he told Radio Times, adding that restaurants need to raise their game to stay alive.

Ramsay recently took over a location formerly owned by fellow celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, in Liverpool, England. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Ramsay said that "one man's failure is the next man's success."

The chef also faced criticism at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic from the public and previous members of staff on social media, when 500 members of staff were told their contracts were being terminated due to restrictions, some via email, according to Squaremeal. In a statement released by Ramsay's restaurant group to Mail Online, they said he was working "tirelessly" to ensure as many employees were retained in the business.

Representatives for Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.