Since Gordon Ramsay first became a reality show star, fans have seen a lot of sides of him. For example, Gordon has shown how sweet he can be and viewers saw him become emotional during a Masterchef episode. However, fans are most used to seeing Gordon being so harsh that another famous chef called him out. In fact, Kitchen Nightmares’ most infamous restaurant owners claimed that it was dealing with Gordon that was the real nightmare.

Since Kitchen Nightmares’ restaurant owners weren’t the only ones that talked about the show, it was one of Gordon’s most famous TV efforts. With that in mind, there was a lot of interest when a new show recently premiered that is very similar to Kitchen Nightmares which is called Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service. That begs an obvious question: is Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service or Kitchen Nightmares the better show?

How Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service Is Different From Kitchen Nightmares

Throughout television history, there have been some chefs who’ve become world-famous solely thanks to the medium. Then, there have been some TV chefs who are also notable because of the success they’ve enjoyed in the restaurant business.

Thankfully for Gordon Ramsay, he falls into the second category since he has been involved in a slew of successful restaurants. Since the restaurant business is infamously very hard to succeed in, there is no doubt that there are a lot of people who’d love to have Gordon’s guidance.

For that reason, Kitchen Nightmares enjoyed a lot of success before its finale first aired. Years after Kitchen Nightmares finished, its spiritual successor, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, premiered on Fox. Looking at the two shows, it is interesting to look at how Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service is different from Kitchen Nightmares.

The easiest way to describe how different the two shows are is with a simple description.

Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service is Kitchen Nightmares if it was produced by someone who loves spy movies.

To elaborate on that description, the differences between the two shows start in the opening moments of each Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service episode. After all, the episodes start with Gordon entering the restaurant at night like he is some kind of spy casing the joint.

At that point, the spy theme continues as Gordon and the camera crew that follow him don’t turn on the lights. Instead, they use flashlights and even black lights to see what is going on in the kitchen.

On top of the show featuring footage captured by the camera crew that can be seen following Gordon, the show also uses surveillance camera footage.

Throughout the rest of the episode, footage captured by cameras that are secretly setup in the kitchen is shown. For example, there are secret cameras at floor level, so any vermin or rodents will be captured on film.

As the episodes continue, the typical confessional interview footage of the restaurant’s workers is shown. However, when footage from each person’s confessional interview appears onscreen for the first time, text is shown that reveals their name and position at the restaurant. One heavy-handed element of the show is that the text looks like it is from the kind of dossiers that are often shown in spy movies.

Also early on during the episode, Gordon sits in a video production booth as he brings in other people to try the restaurant’s food. Gordon can talk to the people sampling the food in real time, which allows him to get an idea of what the food offered is truly like. After all, he can get live feedback about the diner experience without affecting the restaurant workers with his presence at the table.

Finally, the other major difference between Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service and Kitchen Nightmares is an element of intrigue.

After he finally enters the restaurant with the staff there, Gordon informs them that he has an insider who works for the business feeding him information. Then, in the final minutes of the episode, Gordon announces who the insider is and they explain their motivations.

Is Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service Better Than Kitchen Nightmares?

When comparing the two shows, it quickly becomes clear that Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service isn’t a better show than Kitchen Nightmares. While that may seem harsh, another thing to keep in mind is that Kitchen Nightmares also isn’t a better show than Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service.

At the end of the day, the most accurate way to describe the situation is that Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service is that it is different from Kitchen Nightmares. In fact, scratch that, the real truth is that Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service is a little bit different from Kitchen Nightmares.

In some ways, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service is a better produced and fancier version of Kitchen Nightmares. After all, Kitchen Nightmares didn’t include night vision footage of a rodent moving around a restaurant’s kitchen.

In other ways, Kitchen Nightmares is sincerer than Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service, since it wasn’t bogged down in the forced use of technology as an unnecessary gimmick. All the spy tech really doesn’t serve much a purpose, since Gordon walking around a kitchen, as he shows and describes how dangerous and gross things are might be more effective. After all, most people don’t have spy tech, but they understand how revolting seeing rotten ingredients and food is.

At the end of the day, some viewers will prefer Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service over Kitchen Nightmares, and vice versa. That is because when both shows are broken down to their cores, they are the same but dressed up in different ways.

Not only that, Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service and Kitchen Nightmares have a step sibling in Hotel Hell. That’s because Hotel Hell, which is another Gordon Ramsay reality show, feels like it has the same metaphorical parents, but it was raised by the hotel manager.