Gordon Ramsay says he struggles with a 'guilt complex' after watching his younger brother battle heroin addiction for much of his adult life. 

The celebrity chef shared a bedroom with brother Ronnie, 58, during an itinerant childhood that saw them move across various deprived council estates with their parents, Helen and Gordon - described by Ramsay, 59, as a 'violent alcoholic.' 

But while he would go on to pursue a hugely successful career as a chef, restauranter and TV presenter, Ronnie succumbed to the ravages of drug addiction and a lifelong  dependency on heroin.

Reflecting on his fractious relationship with his younger brother in the second episode of new Netflix documentary series Being Gordon Ramsay, he said:  'I have a brother who's a heroin addict. We shared a bunk bed, he's 15 months younger than me, and he's been an addict for the last four decades.

'I've gone to hell and back with him and so I have a guilt complex. That could have been me, it could have been switched.

He added: 'I've been dealt the dysfunctional card.' 

Ramsay, now worth an estimated £180 million, moved to Stratford-Upon-Avon from a tough Renfrewshire council estate with Ronnie, sisters Yvonne and Dianne, and his parents when he was nine-years old. 

It would be the first of numerous moves as the family shifted from one rented property to another and their father's drinking steadily worsened. 

'I, sadly, had a torrid relationship with my father,' he recalled in the first instalment of his new documentary series.

'It's hard, isn't it, when someone's an alcoholic? It's very hard to relate to that, because you're just … you're nervous.

'You're worried about, you know, hitting the end of the bottle and seeing that bottle of Bacardi disappear, because you know what happens at the end of that.'

Speaking to Spencer Matthews in the Big Fish podcast in 2023, Ramsay said he was determined to reach the top of his profession without turning to substance abuse.

He said: 'Growing up in multiple s**tholes, you get one's s**t together early. I just wanted to better myself and get out of a situation that was unfortunate. I had grown up on 15 council estates.

'There's always a nerve-wracking moment when you go to another school, another football club. Having to make mates again sometimes twice in one year.

'That's incredibly disruptive. I set out to change and give my family the security and everything that I had wished for at their age. I never expected that level of success, like any success it's worked for.'

Ramsay credited his mother, a former nurse, for being the biggest inspiration in his life as she juggled three jobs to keep the family afloat.

'The first ambition when I got successful was to give mum her own house, her own garage and a car,' he said. 'It's a big thing for a son to look after their mum. she went to hell and back to look after us.'

He added: 'The flipside to my success is my brother's addiction to heroin. It's bizarre isn't it?

'You grow up on several council estates, you're sharing this tiny bedroom and you're in bunk beds. You're so close as brothers, we're 14 months apart so much has changed dramatically.'

He adds: 'I have that reminder on a daily basis how different it could have been if I'd gone down a different road and felt the country owed me something rather than fighting for something.'