Surprise! Gordon Ramsay gives Hell's Kitchen winner Christina Wilson a Houzz home makeover

Celebrity chef and TV presenter Gordon Ramsay isn't often associated with grand gestures of affection or public declarations of praise.

Indeed a few years ago Channel 4 famously defended Ramsay's prolific swearing - more than 100 times in one episode - by saying that the chef has "no time for niceties".

One person he does have time for however is Christina Wilson, the winner of Season 10 Hell's Kitchen in the United States and group executive chef of several of Ramsay’s restaurants.

Wilson bought the 1920s house she had been renting in Philadelphia terrace house with her £176,000 ($250k) winnings from the show, but it was desperately in need of an update befitting the life of a top chef.

"Chefs don't spend that much time at home. So when we are at home, we want to relax, enjoy and unwind," says Ramsay.

Ramsay found interior designer Matthew Ferrarini on Houzz and, with Wilson away for four weeks, the pair got to work.

Ferrarini started by suggesting they remove some of the interior walls, open up the narrow space and create an environment better suited for hosting Wilson's family and friends.

The idea was to channel an industrial look but use splashes of colour for warmth, including navy blue cabinets in the showstopper kitchen - incidentally, the same colour as Ramsay has in his own home.

​Ferrarini reworked the space in the kitchen so Wilson would be able to see straight through to the back garden through two double doors from the moment she walks in.

A pull-out work surface provides the extra space Wilson needs for preparing food, while exposed beams and cage light fittings give the kitchen a modern, chic vibe.

Removing a bulky landing at the bottom of the stairs added valuable space, then a sleek rail was added to fit in with the home's new industrial look.

Ramsay says his first impressions were: "breathtaking."

The celebrity chef and Ferrarini clashed only once during the project — over a wall that Ramsay wanted to leave unpainted.

But Ferrarini decided it looked too busy with the "living wall" herb garden hanging it front of it, so painted it anyway.

"It looks great," says Ramsay at the big reveal, "So I was wrong, you were right. It annoys me."

On seeing the results, Wilson says: “Never in a million years would I have thought to flip the kitchen how he did, and this is what I do for a living,” Wilson says, “It’s amazing.”

Watch the full video on houzz.co.uk