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The fire and brimstone atmosphere that permeates Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" - which is taped in a fake restaurant created inside a Hollywood sound studio - doesn't hold a candle to what goes on inside Gordon Ramsay's real kitchens. Or for that matter, what happens to the devilish chef himself. Consider this frightening incident at Claridge's, the posh London hotel and site of one of the his 19 worldwide restaurants. "Four months ago, I was leaning over the stove, shouting at a young cook, and I ended up with a burnt right bollock," says Ramsay. Apparently, his private parts have been endangered for some time. Ramsay says that over the years, his ability to reproduce has taken a major hit from "going commando," which is chef-speak for doing without underwear when the kitchens get too damn hot. "On the back of standing with my balls so close to the stove for the last 21 years, I had sperm depreciation and a very low sperm count," says Ramsay, the father of four. "That's the reason why my wife and I had to go through in vitro fertilization." He says this all very matter-of-factly, not a bit self-conscious. As you talk to Ramsay, 41, the overall impression you're left with is the human equivalent of a friendly junkyard dog: Vulgar language, bawdy humor and unvarnished candor. The rough-and-tumble Scotsman survived childhood in a government housing project with an alcoholic father who regularly beat his mother. He left home at 19, he says, "to get the f-k out and put the past behind me." Hotel catering was his ticket to traveling the world. After falling in love with cooking, he spent 10 years as an apprentice in multiple kitchens - including three years in Paris - to become a world class chef. He's a man on a mission. And if he has no time to play nice, it's all part of his pitchfork-in-your-eye charm. Ask him about the two remaining contestants on the upcoming fourth season finale of "Hell's Kitchen," and he serves it straight up. Christina Machamer, 25, the culinary school student? "She's a very gritty, feisty little cow," he enthuses. How about catering director Louis Petrozza, 47? "Very focused," he says. But if you tell him that neither looks ready to win the show's grand prize of becoming executive chef at his new West Hollywood hotel eatery, Gordon Ramsay at The London, and he says, "S-t, no. Do you honestly think, my sweet pea, that I'm going to be that stupid and that vulnerable? That I would stick my ass to the window and give one of them a chance to run that restaurant, which is a multi-million [dollar] investment? One of them will be part of an amazing team, put in the deep end. But they will definitely NOT be running the room." For the record, the winner will be CALLED an executive chef, but in fact will be one of 65 chefs responsible for all hotel meals, including breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner, as well as catering for meetings, parties and weddings. The restaurant, which opened for business on May 26, is already doing a booming dinner business. Walk into the main dining area and you're quickly enveloped by plush upholstery in soft pinks and blues in a room accented with modern Asian touches. The décor mirrors the exquisite cuisine - modern French with an Asian flair - that's earned Ramsay a total of twelve Michelin stars over the years, including three for his flagship, eponymous London restaurant and two for his first foray into Manhattan, Gordon Ramsay at The London, NYC. Spend $35 for a 3-course, fixed price lunch, and what you get is Ramsay's interpretation of the perfect meal: "Localized ingredients, cooked properly and kept simple." You might have scallops with cauliflower puree, pan-fried sea trout with marinated Japanese mushrooms, pineapple soufflé with toasted coconut and Thai curry ice cream. In its refinement and elegance, the menu is an astonishing counterpoint to its hardscrabble creator. Shouldn't he be running some British pub? "I have pubs, I own a few, but I don't want to cook in them," he says. "There's no danger in that. And it was the danger that captured me. My goal was to become a 3-star chef." He's also become a television star, in England, Australia and America, with two hit shows to his credit: "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares," which takes Ramsay to failing restaurants to see if he can turn them around. "Fox wants to run shows," he says. "I want to run a restaurant. But I'm so lucky that it works around my schedule. I give them a certain window when I'm available. At the end of the day, I'm a chef."And he swears he doesn't behave outside, on the streets, the way he does in his kitchens. If a car repairman or a shopkeeper gave him trouble? "If anyone pisses me off, I walk away, to be honest," he says. "But in my kitchen? If a young chef screws up a table? Should I congratulate him and send him outside for a cigarette? B---shit." You have to wonder about Ramsay's health, given his explosive personality. But the man not only vents, he regularly runs marathons. "My father died of a heart attack at 53 through smoking and drinking, but I keep incredibly fit," he says. "I had an ECG (electrocardiogram) a couple of weeks ago. They asked me to go on a treadmill and start running up an incline. But after 35 minutes, they told me to get off the machine because my heart rate was still working at 50 percent of what it should be. The blood pressure was all quite normal." His face, however, looks like ten miles of rough road. "But my wife will tell you, they're CHARACTER forming lines," says Ramsay, laughing. "She'll say that my face looks like a map of Wales. But at least it's MY face. It's not Botox." And it's a face that must break into a grin when he has a moment to consider how far he's come: A decorated chef with nineteen restaurants and multiple media showcases for the most popular bully on television. "I'm living a dream come true," says Ramsay, fired up. "When young chefs come into the kitchen and say, 'I was tired last night.' I say, 'No chance. You sleep when you die, you f------ idiot.'"