Gordon Ramsay has a message for you this holiday weekend: wear sunscreen.
The Michelin-starred celebrity chef posted Saturday on Instagram that he was diagnosed with skin cancer and had the basal cell carcinoma removed from the side of his face.
Ramsay shared two photos, one of a bandage stretching from his cheek to his neck. Another, a close-up, showed stitch marks directly below his earlobe.
“Grateful and so appreciative for the incredible team at The Skin Associates and their fast reactive work on removing this Basal Cell Carcinoma thank you! Please don’t forget your sunscreen this weekend,” Ramsay wrote in the caption.
His post was not without humor: “I promise you it’s not a face lift! I’d need a refund …” he said.
Ramsay — the host, most recently, of the reality TV show “Hell’s Kitchen” — has not been shy about sharing his health issues on social media, as well as offering cautionary advice to his followers. Last year he posted a video on Instagram after he was in a bicycle accident in Connecticut. In the video, the Scottish-born restaurateur lifted his white chef coat and pointed to expansive bruising on his torso. He urged his followers to “WEAR A HELMET.”
Skin cancers are among the most common cancers diagnosed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. More than 1.5 million new cases were estimated in 2022.
Basal cell carcinoma in particular, which Ramsay was diagnosed with, is a type of non-melanoma skin cancer and the most common overall, says Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, a double board certified dermatologist based in Dallas.
“But the good news,” Houshmand says, “is there’s a less than 1% chance of metastasis, meaning it would spread to other organs, regions. But it is a skin cancer and needs to be addressed promptly. Usually the treatment is surgical excision and that’s what Gordon Ramsay had done.”
Early detection of basal cell carcinoma, Houshmand says, is key. As are preventative measures, such as wearing sunscreen and SPF clothing.
“It’s generally slow-growing and rarely spreads to other parts of the body, and with early detection and treatment the cure rate is very high,” she says. “Always see your dermatologist if you see an irregularity that’s not going away. Don’t wait. And protect yourself — I like an SPF of 50 or greater and apply it 15 minutes before going outside.”
So if you fire up the grill this weekend — even attempting one of Ramsay’s barbecue favorites — still, make sunscreen the main course.
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