- Gino D’Acampo faces new allegations of bullying and intimidation from ITV staff, including former TV executive Sue Fowler
- Reports include concerning incidents during the filming of ‘Gino’s Italy’, which led to an investigation and training for D’Acampo
- ITV understands that D’Acampo denies all the allegations, but has declined to provide a statement.
A former TV executive, along with other crew members, has come forward with fresh claims about Gino D’Acampo’s behaviour.
The TV chef, 49, was axed from ITV after a string of misconduct allegations about his behaviour on set, which he denied, began emerging at the end of last year.
Now, more people have come forward with complaints.
One of them is former TV executive Sue Fowler, who told ITV News she was ‘absolutely distraught’ after comments he allegedly made on a production she was working on.
She described D’Acampo as ‘extremely intimidating and bullying’.
ITV News understands that D’Acampo denies all the allegations, but has declined to provide a statement on his position.
Previously, he said: ‘I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone.’
Fowler, who is a former Head of Production, detailed an incident while filming for the 2022 cookery series, Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used to Make.
She describes a crew member falling ill on a beach in Naples: ‘[The crew member’s] legs kind of buckle from underneath him, his eyes are kind of rolling back again, sweating profusely, and [he] just looks grey.’
The production were advised to call for an ambulance as it was believed he was having a heart attack.
Fowler says while this was happening, D’Acampo told the crew they should ‘package him up and send him back like they do on Amazon Prime’.
According to the production executive, D’Acampo went on to say: ‘People live, people die.
‘Anyone who gives a f*** about this production will follow me down to the beach and start filming now. Anyone who doesn’t can stay up here.’
In the end, the crew member eventually recovered.
Fowler said D’Acampo ‘humiliated people’, claiming the crew had a ‘fear of him’ and that she found him ‘extremely intimidating and bullying’.
Senior staff members compiled a report detailing the incident, which was made by Betty TV.
Worried they hadn’t reached ITV, who commissioned the show, Fowler then sent her complaints to them anonymously.
At the time, an ITV lawyer responded saying they were ‘very sorry for the upset this incident will have caused to the complainant and others’.
They added: ‘Gino’s behaviour on this shoot, as outlined in your email, is not materially disputed.’
However, assurances were made. ‘Before the next production involving Gino with another company… he was reminded of the correct channels of communication and expectations around behaviour on a shoot,’ the ITV lawyer said.
D’Acampo also completed online training modules, such as ‘Tackling Harassment and Bullying at Work and Mental Health Awareness at Work’, according to the response.
Fowler told ITV News, ‘very little’ happened as a result of the concerns she raised, ‘because Gino brings in money for ITV, they’ve never held him accountable’.
She feels that if her ‘complaint had been taken seriously’ by ITV and the production company, then further incidents could have been avoided.
The ITV lawyer claimed that action taken by Betty TV was sufficient to ‘try’ and make sure ‘there was no possibility of a similar incident occurring’.
Further incidents were said to have taken place, according to ITV News.
The ITV News report also featured an interview with an anonymous crew member who worked with D’Acampo in 2010 on an ITV cooking show, in which the TV chef allegedly swore at him.
He claimed he was ‘grabbed by the shoulders’ as D’Acampo said: ‘You made me look like a c***’, before throwing him to one side and shouting ‘f*** you’.
Like Fowler claims she did, the anonymous crew member – who ITV News referred to as ‘Stephen’ – was worried about facing repercussions for speaking up.
ITV News also interviewed other people who spoke positively about working with D’Acampo, saying he was a ‘pleasure to work with’.
After being approached for comment by Metro, ITV said: ‘When issues about Gino D’Acampo’s behaviour have been brought to ITV’s attention, we have looked into them and addressed them. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.
‘If a new complaint of inappropriate behaviour, whether historical or current, is raised with us, it will be looked into by our Complaints Handling Unit.’
The broadcaster also referred us to ITV’s Conduct and Standards Guidelines for On Screen Personalities, which were introduced last year.
On behalf of Betty TV, an Objective Media Group spokesperson said:
‘Objective Media Group is committed to the welfare and wellbeing of all its production staff and has robust Duty of Care protocols and procedures in place for all cast and crew, including on-screen presenters and experts, that we review regularly.
‘Betty TV and Objective Media Group carried out a comprehensive investigation into an incident that occurred during the location filming of Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used to Make.
‘Following the conclusion of the investigation, Gino D’Acampo was formally spoken to regarding his conduct, and he completed online and bespoke in-person Anti-Bullying and Harassment training.’
Metro has contacted representatives for Gino D’Acampo for comment.
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