Is Gordon Ramsay's alleged affair with Sarah Symonds a PR stunt?

Washington, Dec 2 : Even as the allegations of an affair between Brit chef Gordon Ramsay and Sarah Symonds are going around, a new revelation has come up which makes the whole affair look like a PR stunt.

Symonds, 38, had publicly claimed that she had been having a long-term affair with Ramsay, 42, and he in turn had dismissed the allegations as "a load of BS" while appearing on the BBC's "Good Food Show."

But now Noel Biderman, President and CEO of AshleyMadison.com, an Internet dating service, has come forward and said that Symonds' claims could altogether be a PR stunt.

The self-proclaimed mistress had been employed to be the U.K spokesperson for the controversial website, which caters to those looking to have a secret extramarital affair, in February this year.

"Symonds was the face of the company in the U.K and we wanted to generate some buzz and one of the ideas we threw around was if she was too have a high-profile affair," Fox News quoted Biderman as saying.

"At the time she specifically asked if an affair with a top British chef would accomplish what we needed to do," he said.

But the relationship between Symonds and the company did not work out, as she wanted to pursue a career in Hollywood, and the company needed someone who would stay in the UK.

"There were no ill feelings when she left," Biderman added.

He also said that he had since reached out to Symonds in the wake of the Ramsay infidelity claims, but had not had a response.

ANI