TV chef Gino D’Acampo has urged ITV to contact him after he was made aware of fresh complaints about his conduct this weekend
Gino D’Acampo has urged ITV to contact him after fresh allegations about ‘crude’ behaviour on the set of his TV shows emerged this weekend.
The TV chef is said to be ‘deeply worried’ about the ‘escalating distress’ the claims are having on his family. Gino, who shares three children with wife Jessica, said he will fully cooperate with an investigation and urged his employers to reach out to him.
The This Morning star and former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! winner came under the spotlight earlier this month when ITV News reported that dozens of former staff and freelancers made allegations about working with Gino, calling his behaviour over a reported 12 year period “unacceptable,” “distressing,” and “horrendous”.
Since the allegations – which the star vehemently denies – Gino’s shows have been pulled from ITV’s schedule.
This weekend a fresh allegation emerged with Gino accused of drawing an explicit image of a woman during the filming of one of his ITV shows. A producer who worked with him on the show Saturday Cooks! claimed to The Sun: “In front of the rest of the production team on the studio floor during live filming, he picked up a pad and paper and asked to draw a picture of me. I thought it was going to be a harmless caricature. But when he showed me the finished drawing I felt shocked and humiliated.”
The woman also claims that D’Acampo made a crude remark about Great British Bake Off star Mary Berry.
A statement responding to the claims given to the Mirror last night from Gino’s team reads: “Mr D’Acampo was first made aware of these allegations relating to events that are said to have occurred over 17 years ago on the afternoon of the Saturday 22nd February when he was emailed by The Sun on Sunday. No details have been provided, just extremely vague allegations with no specific year or person identified and no context explained. None of these allegations have ever been brought to his attention previously, he does not recollect them and does not recognise the allegations or the behaviour which is attributed to him. He denies these allegations. He has been told by the Sun on Sunday that they are from a complaint to ITV from December 2024. If so, he urges ITV to contact him about it and he will fully cooperate. He is deeply worried about the immense and escalating distress that these allegations are having on his family”
The complaint is from alleged incidents in 2007-2008, and were brought to ITV’s attention in December 2024.
Responding to Gino, ITV told The Mirror: ““ITV is completely committed to creating an environment where everyone is treated with respect and feels able to give of their best. We have strengthened these policies in the last 5 years and have set up a dedicated Complaints Handling Unit in 2024 to manage any complaints we receive about on screen presenters and ensure ITV has a centralised view across different productions.
“The standards of behaviour that ITV expects are very clear. Everyone working with ITV is subject to ITV’s Code of Ethics and Conduct. At ITV we treat everyone with courtesy, fairness, dignity and respect and do not tolerate abusive behaviour of any form in the workplace. We have also reiterated our expectations of our on screen presenters’ behaviour through our Conduct and Standards Guidelines for On Screen Personalities issued in 2024
The behaviour detailed in this press report is inappropriate and unacceptable. We are committed to investigating complaints in an appropriate manner and according to our robust protocols.”
In a statement given to The Sun on his behalf, a spokesperson for D’Acampo said: “Mr D’Acampo has only respect and admiration for Mary Berry and they have always had a great working relationship together. None of these allegations have ever been brought to his attention previously, he does not recollect them. He denies these allegations.”
