Lucy Ferguson has some suggestions for Gordon Ramsay to up the "likeability factor".

Gordon Ramsay's had a terrible year. His characteristic rudeness, his kitchens and even his private life have come under attack from all sides. The Australian prime minister called him a 'low life' after he was rude about a local journalist, and even the pasta sauces Ramsay has on sale for Comic Relief state "no cash going to Gordon Ramsay" on the back. So it is with great interest that we anticipate a new series of The F Word tonight.

But how do you make a rude chef who's fallen out of public favour more popular? We've come up with some suggestions...

- Use co-hosts who are more irritating and unpopular than Gordon, so he looks better?
This one might be possible – The F Word co-hosts have included Giles Coren and Janet Street Porter, any fewer points on what The X Factor judges have called 'the likeability factor' and the programme risks complete shutdown.

- Less frowning, fewer frownlines
Smooth down Gordon's continual forehead grimace, it scares the horses (and Janet Street Porter). As previously reported on the blog, this one seems to be taken care of.

- Champion "local heroes"
The Gary Rhodes approach. Bask in the reflected glory of local heroes and look like a great guy. The F Word's got this one covered too, this series Gordon intends to encourage people to visit their local restaurants and is holding awards for the best local restaurants as nominated by the public.

- Do a Piers Morgan
When did Piers Morgan stop being seen as utterly dislikeable and start becoming an acceptable person to fill our screens? When he started interviewing celebrity vacuums like Jordan, that's when. Ramsay's first guest on the F Word tonight? Oh, it's Katie Price.

The F Word, Thursday, 9pm, Channel 4
Official site

What do you think, is Ramsay still your kitchen hero, let us know below...

Lucy tries to cook the recipes from her favourite food TV shows over at her blog TV Dinners: tvdinners.tv