Gino D’Acampo has denied the allegations (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Gino D’Acampo is facing allegations of inappropriate and intimidating behaviour.
Dozens of people have come forward to speak about their experience working with him over a period of 12 years.
The investigation by ITV News found that at least one production company that worked with the celebrity chef were aware of concerns that were raised but continued to work with him.
His behaviour has been described by some people as ‘unacceptable,’ ‘distressing’ and ‘horrendous’.
D’Acampo has ‘firmly denied’ the allegations, and said they are ‘deeply upsetting’.
The Italian chef, 48, is best known for appearing on shows including This Morning, Let’s Do Lunch and Gino’s Italian Escape.
D’Acampo was an ITV regular (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Since 2018 he’s also fronted Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip alongside Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix, which follows the trio visiting various countries and cities and exploring local culture and cuisine.
It was reported in December that he was ‘slowly being sidelined’ by ITV after allegedly facing a string of inappropriate behaviour claims made against him.
D’Acampo is the host of gameshow Family Fortunes, but it is said a series filmed in 2023 is not scheduled for broadcast.
He is reportedly ‘slowly being sidelined’ (Picture: ITV)
ITV said in a statement: ‘All of the concerns and complaints raised by those who have spoken to ITN describe behaviour which is inappropriate and unacceptable. Most of them were not reported to ITV at the time. Where issues have been raised with ITV action has been taken.’
The women who spoke with ITV News are fearful of the consequences of speaking out so their identities have been concealed. Included in the claims is one woman, given the pseudonym of Hannah, who has claimed that while on a magazine shoot in 2011, D’Acampo said he’d “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter.”
‘I definitely saw it as some kind of power play. The very act of what he said was aggressive,’ she added. She described feeling ‘shock’ and ‘horror’ but was unsurprised that nobody else called out the comment.
Family Fortunes is said to have been shelved (Picture: ITV)
Responding specifically to this claim, D’Acampo’s legal team said: ‘This allegation from almost 15 years ago has never, until now via a media request for comment, been raised or put to Mr D’Acampo.
‘He does not recall it, nor accept that this happened. Mr D’Acampo is horrified to be accused of “power play” and an “aggressive act”. He emphatically and unequivocally denies these allegations.’
Natalie* said she considered quitting her job after a location shoot with D’Acampo, in which she alleges he ‘opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing else. And jumped on the bed’.
‘We had to sort of sit there facing him and he made, you know, reference to his d***, basically saying, “Oh, don’t worry, it’s only small”, and sort of flicking it.’
‘Mr D’Acampo categorically denies these allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour,’ was the response from his legal team.
‘To his knowledge no such allegations have been made against him in relation to his time on ‘Gino’s Italian Express’ and this is the first time, six years later, he has been informed of these alleged incidents, and he does not accept them, not least because some of this is considered by Mr D’Acampo to be a fabricated work of fiction.’
The allegations span a 12 year period (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Another person claims to have been present when Gino said to a runner, ‘If you don’t get me a Cornetto, I will f*** your girlfriend.’ A different crew member said the comment had ‘stuck in my head for years.’
D’Acampo’s representatives said he is ‘mortified’ and ‘does not recall this incident at all.’
On the production of Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip in 2018 several other comments were alleged to have been made. They include D’Acampo saying ‘Shouldn’t we be talking about her t***, they’re perfect, they’re like a mouthful’ about a young colleague and ‘When are we all going to get drunk and have sex together.’ One crew member said: ‘ ‘Without saying hello or good morning, he just loudly announced he felt like f****** that morning.’
Production company Objective Media Group are said to have been aware of concerns, and ITV News have seen a 2024 email that says D’Acampo had been spoken to about ‘the differences between on screen character material and behaviour off screen with members of the team’.
In another email comments were mentioned including that he’d said a ‘bitter middle aged woman who needed to get laid’, and that he was ‘so hungry I could eat somebody’s t***’, and also that he’d described mozzarella as ‘wetter than p******.’
A further email from ITV says: ‘We can categorically confirm that this kind of behaviour is not tolerated by ITV.’
‘These allegations from six years ago are said to have been made in an email from December 2024 to Objective Media Group which Mr D’Acampo has not seen,’ wrote D’Acampo’s legal team.
‘The first time that Mr D’Acampo became aware of these allegations was via ITN’s request for comment and, even then, no context has been provided for any of these statements.
‘No-one has ever made these complaints to Mr D’Acampo. Mr D’Acampo does not recall making any of these comments, nor does he accept that they were made. They include language that he would not use, such as the word “middle-aged woman”.’
‘The suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Others have told ITV News that they had a positive experience working with D’Acampo, calling him ‘passionate but professional’.
D’Acampo has responded to the full claims with a statement: ‘I have been told by ITN news that allegations have been made about me acting inappropriately, some dating back over ten years ago.
‘I have never been made aware of these matters previously and the allegations are firmly denied. I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone. This is simply not in my nature. I do not recognise the version of events being put to me.
‘Not only have these allegations never been raised with me before, I have been repeatedly supported by executives at the highest level and was commissioned on prime-time programmes during the period in which it is now suggested I was acting inappropriately.
‘I am a father, husband and have worked with well over 1,500 people on around 80 productions in my career, which I have been so proud of. I take such matters extremely seriously and the suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.’
In December, D’Acampo was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a woman on the set of This Morning.
Metro has contacted D’Acampo’s representatives for comment.
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