AceShowbiz - Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay was scared into getting in shape after realising he was fast approaching the same age his father was when he died from a heart attack.

The "Hell's Kitchen" star recently shed 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) after his wife, Tana, encouraged him to do something about his gradually expanding waistline, having become accustomed to "grazing" on food throughout the day while working at his multiple restaurants and on his various TV shows.

"Gordon's famous for being blunt so you know, I just gave him a little bit of his own medicine and basically suggested that he was getting a little wide around his middle," Tana Ramsay explained on breakfast show "Today".

"He got really angry with me when I came up with the saying, 'Little pickers wear bigger knickers (panties)!'"

She helped Gordon revamp his diet and embark on a new exercise regimen, through which he managed to get his weight down to 220 pounds (99.7 kilograms).

"I'm very good now at eating five times a day but small amounts, as opposed to big breakfast..., light lunch, and a big dinner," the 51-year-old said.

Another big motivator was the unexpected loss of his dad, Gordon Sr., who suffered a fatal heart attack in 1997 - and the father-of-four didn't want to repeat history.

"(I've) never really shared this with the kids, but my father passed at 53 - that's three years away (sic) from where I am now," acknowledged the chef, as Tana admitted the thought of losing her husband at the same age was "scary".

"I was just coming into 30 years of age, that's a big influence gone," Gordon continued of his dad's death. "I want to set that example (to my kids). I never got to spend that quality time with my father... That man never ever ate in my restaurant, and that pains me today..."