GORDON RAMSAY - WHITE SLAMS NEW YORK TIMES FOR HIRING PRIVATE EYE

British celebrity chef MARCO PIERRE WHITE has slammed the New York Times after they hired a private detective to prove he lied about his alleged drug and alcohol abuse in a defamation case against the paper. White filed a lawsuit against the New York Times and sister paper the International Herald Tribune in 1998 for falsely claiming he once had a "well-publicised bout with drugs and alcohol" - allegations he believe they continued to pursue in a bid to expose the chef after the court case was settled. The Leeds-born chef says, "They hired private detectives in an attempt to dig up some dirt, and GORDON RAMSAY, by now an accomplished chef and restaurateur, got a call from someone saying she was a journalist who worked for the New York Times. "The reporter asked him about the period he worked for me... 'Did he have a wild time there?' That sort of thing. When she referred to 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll', he ended the call." And White admits he would have welcomed questions over the paper's claim in the original interview so he could set the record straight. He adds, "If she had (asked), I would have explained to her that I rarely touched booze and have never taken illegal drugs."