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‘Sexually aggressive’ Gino D’Acampo ‘said and did whatever he wanted’ while working for ITV – as his alleged victims today insisted they were ‘too afraid’ to make complaints at the time.
Sources told MailOnline that ITV began to ease out Gino in the wake of the scandal that has engulfed the BBC over Gregg Wallace, especially after Phillip Schofield’s bitter exit from This Morning.
But amid questions about why they didn’t complain about incidents spanning 12 years, most of the woman told ITV News they were ‘too afraid’ to make complaints as they were self-employed and feared being ostracised in TV.
One source at the broadcaster told MailOnline that the charismatic Italian chef, 48, who denies the claims of inappropriate behaviour, was a victim of ‘the MasterChef effect’.
‘He’s in a lot of trouble and ITV don’t want to be in a BBC situation or have a repeat of Schofield so they are covering all their bases’, the insider added.
One woman who worked with him declared: ‘Gino said and did whatever he wanted’.
It is understood the Italian chef was secretly ditched from Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip after refusing to sign a morality clause in his contract that would have allowed ITV to sack him if his behaviour on set was problematic.
Family Fortunes, the iconic family gameshow by Gino, was due for broadcast in early 2025 but the entire series, filmed last year, has reportedly been canned by ITV.
D’Acampo has been damned for inappropriate behaviour by women when he was at the height of his fame on This Morning and on Saturday Cooks
An investigation by ITV News found ‘dozens’ of allegations of misconduct against the 48-year-old on TV shows he worked on, with his behaviour described as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘distressing’ by those making accusations, according to the broadcaster.
The accusations included using sexualised and aggressive language on TV sets.
One woman told the investigation that D’Acampo said he would like ‘like to turn me over and f*** me up the a**e against the kitchen counter’ in front of the entire crew.
Gino has been complained about by a woman who worked with him over a 12 year period. He has also been accused of jokingly flashing and crew members on his show Emission Impossible with Fred Sirieix. The crew were reportedly offered counselling
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
Gregg Wallace has been forced to step down from his role as MasterChef host – ITV sources said the scandal made them act on Gino
Another woman said while away filming: ‘He opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing else. Then he jumped on the bed, put his leg up and made a crude reference to his private parts, joking about their size.’
In a separate claim, D’Acampo has also been accused of telling a junior member of staff he would ‘f*** their girlfriend’ if he wasn’t provided with a Cornetto ice cream.
D’Acampo is alleged to have said about another young female colleague: ‘Shouldn’t we be talking about her t*ts, they’re perfect, they’re like a mouthful.’ Another told us he said to a young colleague: ‘When are we all going to get drunk and have sex together.’
D’Acampo has ‘firmly denied’ the allegations in a statement to ITV News, saying they were ‘simply not in my nature’ and describing them as ‘deeply upsetting’.
An insider said when the scandal broke that Gino sees himself as a ‘cheeky Italian chappy’ and there is no malice in his jokes or playful behaviour.
An ITV source with knowledge of the D’Acampo row told MailOnline that the Gregg Wallace scandal has left Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster terrified of contagion to their shows – and Gino was forced out.
His new series of Family Fortunes is filmed and due for broadcast in early 2025 – but it may not see the light of day.
‘This is all about the MasterChef effect. ITV has looked at what is happening over at the BBC and is worried’, they said.
Gino D’ACamp and wife Jessica
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 D’Acampo gets up close with Amy Childs and Denise Welch
Natasha Kaplinsky and Gino D’Acampo on ‘Let’s Do Lunch with Gino’
‘If they are easing Gino out, it does reduce the chances of them having commissioned a show that they may have to can or cancel mid-way through a series. MasterChef has had to cancel two expensive Christmas specials and there is now a massive hole in its festive schedule. The Beeb will be regretting not acting sooner.
‘Gino has a reputation for his on-set antics, and while many viewers really love him and his presenting style, he has also clearly upset people he has worked with along the way.
‘The woman [who has complained to ITV] will have seen the complaints about Gregg and thought ‘actually, what happened to me at work is not right either’.’ Wallace saw his behaviour as banter, and while Gino may feel the same, the world has moved on’.
The TV worker said to have complained about him, who hasn’t been named, is said to have been inspired to speak out after Gregg Wallace was forced to step away from MasterChef after complaints about his behaviour.
She is said to have complained to ITV just as Mr Wallace apologised for claiming ‘middle class women of a certain age’ were to blame for his spectacular fall from grace.
Another TV source added last year: ‘This is all about mitigating risk.
‘I think ITV will be trying to make sure that they don’t have any more scandal, especially after the year they’ve had with Phillip Schofield. They will only want to have talent that doesn’t have skeletons in the cupboard’.
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 came after reports over the weekend that Gino refused to sign a ‘morality clause’ for his most recent ITV series with his friend Fred Sirieix.
He was also quietly dropped from foodie travel show Gordon [Ramsay], Gino and Fred last year. In one episode he bared his bottom in lewd chaps while visiting cowboy-country in Texas.
Gino also has a sporran, which he calls Justin Beaver, and regularly flashes on location.
One woman alleged D’Acampo made sexualised comments towards her while they were working on a magazine shoot in 2011.
Another woman interviewed by ITV News claimed she had witnessed him threaten a young colleague in 2019, with another two women accusing D’Acampo of making sexual remarks while working on Gordon, Gino And Fred’s Road Trip in 2018.
The ITV News report said executives at Objective Media Group, which co-produced Gordon, Gino And Fred’s Road Trip in 2018, were aware of the concerns, with an email seen by the broadcaster, sent last year, detailing ‘unacceptable and distressing’ behaviour by D’Acampo.
Objective Media Group said it ‘takes the welfare and wellbeing of all its production staff and teams incredibly seriously’ and includes ‘behavioural clauses in talent contracts’ and provides ‘behavioural training for on-screen talent’.
MultiStory Media, which produced Gino’s Italian Express, said it would be ‘inappropriate to go into the detail of individual concerns’ but that it was ‘reviewing the concerns which have been raised, what was known at the time and what action was taken’.
It added: ‘We will also look at any new concerns that have come to light.’
Multistory Media told the PA news agency it has not worked with D’Acampo for six years.
In a statement to ITV News, Studio Ramsay, which produced the show Gino’s Italian Family Adventure and co-produced Gordon, Gino And Fred’s Road Trip in 2018, said it takes ‘all allegations of inappropriate behaviour and workplace misconduct seriously, promptly investigate, and take appropriate remedial action when warranted’.
In response to the claims, D’Acampo’s legal team said in a comment issued to ITV News: ‘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.’
His legal team said: ‘Mr D’Acampo categorically denies these allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
‘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.’
An ITV spokesperson said it is ‘production companies who have the primary responsibility for the duty of care of everyone they work with, both on and off screen, when making shows’, describing the behaviour as ‘inappropriate and unacceptable’.
The spokesperson added: ‘Most of them (the allegations) were not reported to ITV at the time. Where issues have been raised with ITV action has been taken.’
Studio Ramsay and D’Acampo’s representatives have been contacted for further comment.
D’Acampo began his TV career in the early 2000s as a judge on ITV cookery competition Too Many Cooks, before achieving fame after winning series nine of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2009, going on to become a regular chef on This Morning.
The chef has also presented ITV gameshow Family Fortunes, and has hosted a number of his own cooking programmes.
Crude sex act
One woman told the investigation that D’Acampo made a vulgar sexual comment towards her during a magazine shoot in 2011.
She claims the celebrity chef said he would like ‘like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter’ in front of the entire crew.
The woman said there were laughs from other employees when he made the comment and she was left feeling humiliated.
‘I remember a ripple of laughter,’ she recalled, while others ‘looked nervously into their cups of tea’.
She said the incident left her feeling ‘horror’ and ‘shock’ but admitted she was not surprised nobody intervened.
She said the comment was ‘aggressive’ and she saw it as ‘some kind of powerplay’.
D’Acampo’s legal team firmly denied this allegation. They 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.’
Gino D’Acampo pictured with his wife Jessica while away on a ski trip together
Gino D’Acampo cooking with Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on This Morning, October 2024
A former colleague alleged that in 2019, D’Acampo aggressively confronted a young crew member over an ice cream
Boxer short greeting
Another woman alleged that when she went to brief D’Acampo about a location shoot, he opened the door in his boxer shorts.
She said he then jumped on the bed and made a crude comment about his penis, joking about its size.
‘He opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing else,’ she said.
‘Then he jumped on the bed, put his leg up and made a crude reference to his private parts, joking about their size.’
She added: ‘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.’
The woman said she felt ‘disgusted’ and accused the TV chef of using his position to behave inappropriately.
D’Acampo’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.’
D’Acampo greets chef Gordon Ramsay with no clothes on during one of their shows together
Gino D’Acampo honoured his promise to cook naked on This Morning after the show won at the 2011 NTA Awards
D’Acampo (centre) and Fred Sirieix (left) greeting Gordon Ramsay (right) naked on a 2020 episode of Gordon, Gino and Fred: American Road Trip
Cornetto threat
In a separate claim, D’Acampo has also been accused of telling a junior member of staff he would ‘f*** their girlfriend’ if he wasn’t provided with an ice cream.
‘I was present when Gino said to the runner, ”If you don’t get me a Cornetto, I will f*** your girlfriend”,’ one woman said.
Another crew member who witnessed the incident said, the remark, which is alleged to have happened during filming for Gino’s Italian Express, had ‘stuck in my head for years.’
‘He was using his power to bully and intimidate us,’ she said. ‘For what? A cookery programme.’
D’Acampo’s representatives responded, saying he was ‘mortified’ by the accusation and ‘does not recall this incident at all.’
Young colleague’s perfect ‘t***’
In a separate claim, the TV chef is also alleged to have made a crude comment about a colleague’s breasts during filming in 2018.
It is alleged that D’Acampo said: ‘Shouldn’t we be talking about her t**? They’re perfect, like a mouthful.’
A different woman has alleged D’Acampo made highly sexualised remarks in 2018 while on set for the filming of Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip (file photo)
Gino’s wife Jessica with the chef pictured together on I’m A Celebrity in 2009
‘Felt like f***ing’
A different woman has alleged D’Acampo made highly sexualised remarks in 2018 while on set for the filming of Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip.
She claimed: ‘Without saying hello, good morning – he just announced loudly that he felt like f***ing that morning.
‘Yeah, ‘I really feel like a s*** this morning’. And off he went.”
‘Let’s have sex together’
D’Acampo is also accused of saying: ‘When are we all going to get drunk and have sex together,’ to members of a production team.
One woman who worked on Gino’s Italian Express said: ‘His ‘cheeky chappy’ persona allows him to hide in plain sight. If I see him on TV, I have to leave the room.’
D’Acampo, 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.’
With ITV and production companies now facing questions about how they handled past complaints, the future of Gino D’Acampo’s TV career remains uncertain
D’Acampo, who has built a multi-million-pound career on his larger-than-life personality, has denied all allegations against him
It has since emerged that Objective Media Group, the production company behind the show Gordon, Gino and Fred, was aware of complaints about D’Acampo as early as 2018.
In response, the company admitted that he was ‘spoken to’ about his off-screen conduct and ‘bespoke training’ was provided.
A separate statement from ITV stressed: ‘We can categorically confirm that this kind of behaviour is not tolerated by ITV.’
With ITV and production companies now facing questions about how they handled past complaints, the future of Gino D’Acampo’s TV career remains uncertain.
For now, the celebrity chef insists he has been unfairly accused.
Responding to the allegations, in a statement to ITV News, Gino D’Acampo said: ‘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.’
MailOnline has contacted D’Acampo’s representatives for comment.
