Kitchen Nightmare Becomes All Too Real

A restaurant owner took it on the chin when celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay told him, "Your restaurant is about to [expletive deleted] swim down the Hudson."

But no one would have guessed those very words would come to pass, for him.

Joe Cerniglia was just found floating down the Hudson river after throwing himself off the George Washington bridge.

Joe was featured on Ramsay's spinoff series, Kitchen Nightmares, in 2007. Now the New York Post is using the show's title to describe his suicide.

Joe Cerniglia's restaurant, Campania, is in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, about 20 minutes from New York City. It's a homey Italian place, but it was so deeply in debt, that Joe agreed to have Gordon Ramsay give it a makeover in his own no-nonsense style.

On the show, Ramsay said to Cerniglia, "Why did you decide to go into business if you haven't a clue how to run a business?"

There's no doubt that Cerniglia was feeling the pressure.

"I'm financially in trouble, I owe my purveyors about $80,000 right now," said Cerniglia.

His wife, Melissa said on Kitchen Nightmares, "If this restaurant fails, I would lose my house."

Joe Cerniglia is the second chef to committ suicide after appearing on a Ramsay show. Rachel Brown, a contestant on Hell's Kitchen in 2006, shot herself the following year.

On Joe Cerniglia's Facebook page his family posted this message:  "We want to thank all of the friends that have sent their condolences."

The chef's suicide comes as a shock because his restaurant had apparrently turned around and was doing well. Our calls to Gordon Ramsay for a comment went unanswered.