F Word was faked, admits Channel 4

The celebrity chef headed into the sea to bag some bass for a beach barbecue in one of the series' "action" items and was shown returning to shore holding several large fish he seemed to have caught.

But while Ramsay did take part in the fishing expedition off the Devon coast, spending around an hour trying to spear a fish, in reality he failed to catch anything, Channel 4 said.

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Spearfishing expert Dave O'Callaghan told the Sunday Times he had caught the fish the celebrity chef cooked on an open fire in the episode.

"I went in 20 minutes before everyone else to make sure we had fish to put on the barbecue.

"I caught about four and then Gordon got in and we spent about an hour in the water. When we came back in we threaded the fish onto a stringer and he carried them.

"Put it like this: Gordon Ramsay caught f all," he told the newspaper.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said the broadcaster had looked into the incident and discovered the show's makers had misrepresented what had happened.

"The production company Optomen has informed us that, after investigation, regrettably it appears that one part of the sea bass VT gave viewers an inaccurate impression about Gordon's involvement.

"We are working with Optomen to ensure this does not happen again."

She added: "Channel 4 does take such errors of judgment seriously and we regret that viewers may feel they were let down on this occasion."

It is not the first time Ramsay's The F Word has been embroiled in controversy.

In May animal rights protesters kicked up a stink over an episode featuring horse meat by dumping a tonne of manure outside Claridges in central London where the chef has a restaurant.

And broadcaster Channel 4 has found itself under fire over a series of incidents this year.

In May was forced to publicly apologise for racist bullying in the Celebrity Big Brother house, amid accusations it had attempted to cover up the race row.

And earlier this month, the operators of the Richard and Judy premium rate TV quiz was hit with a record fine of £150,000 for a phone-in scandal in which viewers were urged to call into the competition even though the shortlist of winners was closed.

But Channel 4 is not the only broadcaster which has had apologise for misleading the public.

Last week, the BBC apologised for a preview clip of a documentary about the Queen which falsely suggested she had stormed out of a photo shoot with top US photographer Annie Leibovitz.