Gino D’Acampo bragged ‘I haven’t been cancelled yet’ just months before he was dropped by ITV following allegations about his behaviour.
The TV chef, 48, has been accused of ‘sexually inappropriate’ behaviour spanning 12 years while filming his hit food and travel programmes.
ITV News said on Friday it has now spoken to ‘over 40 people’ during its investigation, all of whom had either seen or experienced alleged inappropriate or intimidating behaviour by the celebrity chef.
As a result, Gino’s TV shows have been removed from the ITV schedule because of the claims.
The celebrity chef has firmly denied all allegations, calling them ‘deeply upsetting’.
He said: ‘I have been told by ITN news that allegations have been made about me acting inappropriately, some dating back over ten years ago.
Gino D’Acampo bragged ‘I haven’t been cancelled yet’ just months before he was dropped by ITV following allegations about his behaviour
The TV chef, 48, has been accused of ‘sexually inappropriate’ behaviour spanning 12 years while filming his hit food and travel programmes
‘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.’
However, in an interview from October 2024 – less than four months before the ITV News investigation was made public – Gino joked about being ‘the most censored man on TV’.
He also mentioned that show bosses would often ‘freak out’ when they gave him a show because he ‘doesn’t know where to draw the line’.
The chef recently told Heatworld that he had ‘no interest’ in addressing or distancing himself from any of his past controversial behaviour.
He said: ‘ITV freak out when they give me a show, but they know that I mean well and whatever I say, it comes from a good place. I don’t do anything I wouldn’t do in everyday life.’
When asked if he had ever done anything that he regrets during his 15-year TV career, Gino replied: ‘No. If I said it, I meant it, and if I meant it, then it’s cool. Without sounding like an a*****e, I don’t care what people have to say about me. On social media, for example, why would I even bother reading comments and replying? Of course, there are some people who are going to love what you do and some people who are going to hate it.’
As a result, Gino’s TV shows have been removed from the ITV schedule because of the claims
Two episodes of Gino’s Italy: Secrets of the South (pictured), were due to be shown on ITVBe between 6pm and 7pm on Sunday, but will be replaced by an episode of Abbey Clancy : Celebrity Homes.
Gino is the host of Family Fortunes. Episodes have been pulled on Friday and Monday and the new series canned
Gino D’Acampo, pictured with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, honours his promise to cook naked on This Morning if they won at the 2011 NTA Awards. Gino has become known for stripping off on screen
While he admitted he’s not everyone’s ‘cup of tea,’ he insisted that for him, it’s ‘not about awards, money, or fame,’ but rather about ‘being able to do something you love for so many years.’
The dad of three added: ‘I am super-thankful for it. I think there are very few people who have a career in the spotlight the way I have it, because I don’t really care about it. I just go on with my life.
‘And if the moment comes that someone doesn’t like me on television any more, so be it. Thinking about how many people have been cancelled nowadays, who come out of the spotlight for one reason or another, right or wrong… Well, I’m still here, and I have no intention of going anywhere.’
MailOnline has contacted D’Acampo’s representatives for comment.
It comes after one woman, given the pseudonym Hannah, described a disturbing moment during a magazine shoot in 2011.
She claims that, in front of an entire crew, Gino made an explicit sexual comment, telling her he would ‘like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter,’ leaving her humiliated.
‘I remember a ripple of laughter,’ she recalled, while others ‘looked nervously into their cups of tea’.
Hannah said the incident left her feeling ‘horror’ and ‘shock’ but admitted she was not surprised no one intervened.
Gino has be complained about by women who worked with him over a 12 month period
Woman have spoken out about their experiences of working with D’Acampo, claiming he was sexually aggressive and inappropriate
Gino is accused of making lewd jokes, greeting colleagues in his pants, a Cornetto threat and also ‘flicking’ his genitals in public
Gino bares all in a recent visit to Texas with his friends Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix for their travel series
In response, Gino’s legal team said: ‘This allegation from almost 15 years ago has never, until now via a media request, been raised or put to Mr D’Acampo. He does not recall it, nor accept that it happened.’
Another woman, given the pseudonym Natalie, recounted an unsettling experience while briefing Gino for a location shoot.
‘He opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing else,’ she claimed.
‘Then he jumped on the bed, put his leg up and made a crude reference to his private parts, joking about their size.’
Natalie described feeling ‘disgusted’ and accused the TV chef of using his position to behave inappropriately.
Gino’s legal team strongly refuted this version of events, stating: ‘To his knowledge, no such allegations have been made against him in relation to ‘Gino’s Italian Express’.
‘This is the first time – six years later – that he has been informed of these alleged incidents, which he categorically denies.’
In yet another claim, a former colleague alleged that in 2019, Gino aggressively confronted a young crew member over an ice cream.
Gino D’Acampo gets up close with Amy Childs and Denise Welch
Natasha Kaplinsky and Gino D’Acampo on ‘Let’s Do Lunch with Gino’
‘I was present when Gino said to the runner, ‘If you don’t get me a Cornetto, I will f*** your girlfriend,’ the woman told ITV News.
Another crew member who witnessed the incident said the remark had ‘stuck in my head for years’.
‘He was using his power to bully and intimidate us,’ she said. ‘For what? A cookery programme.’
Gino’s representatives responded, saying he was ‘mortified’ by the accusation and ‘does not recall this incident at all’.
A separate claim relates to the filming of Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip in 2018.
A woman, referred to as Lena, recalled: ‘Without saying hello or good morning, he just loudly announced he felt like f****** that morning.’
Another crew member claimed Gino made a crude comment about a female colleague’s chest, allegedly saying:
‘Shouldn’t we be talking about her t**? They’re perfect, like a mouthful.’
Gino has a sporran, which he calls Justin Beaver, and regularly flashes on location and wears on social media
Gino D’Acampo was seen playing the guitar naked in the new Gino and Fred: Emission Impossible trailer
It has since emerged that Objective Media Group, the production company behind Gordon, Gino and Fred, was aware of complaints about Gino as early as 2018.
One woman who worked on Gino’s Italian Express told ITV News: ‘His ‘cheeky chappy’ persona allows him to hide in plain sight. If I see him on TV, I have to leave the room.’
Gino, who has built a multi-million-pound career on his larger-than-life personality, has denied all allegations against him.
His legal team said: ‘No-one has ever made these complaints directly to Mr D’Acampo. He does not recall making these comments, nor does he accept that they were made.’
