Gino D’Acampo thanked his fans as he returned to work amid allegations of misconduct on various TV shows. The 48 year old celebrity chef, known for his appearances on ITV’s This Morning and other programmes, has been accused of “distressing” and “sexually inappropriate” behaviour on the set of his TV programmes over nearly 15 years following an ITV News probe. He “emphatically denies” the claims.
Over the weekend, Gino returned to work as he promoted his latest culinary venture, Gino’s Air Fryer Cookbook, at Asda. In a video posted on his Instagram page, Gino is seen meeting fans, signing books, and snapping selfies with those who queued up to meet him. He captioned the footage: “Always fantastic to meet my fans, you guys are just awesome. Thank you ASDA for having us…”
The chef is facing accusations dating back over 10 years. Individuals are said to have been fearful of any consequences if they ever spoke of their alleged encounters with him. Gino has “firmly denied” the claims brought forward by “dozens” of people, finding them “deeply upsetting”.
Last week, Gino issued a statement to ITV News stressing: “I have been told by ITN news that allegations have been made about me acting inappropriately, some dating back over ten years ago.”
He strongly refuted the claims, saying, “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.”
Gino further clarified: “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.”
A woman referred to as Hannah, to maintain her anonymity, has claimed that Gino made inappropriate remarks towards her back in 2011. She alleges he said that he would “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter”. According to her, there was laughter from the crew making her feel belittled: “I definitely saw it as some kind of power play,” she told ITV.
“The very act of what he said was aggressive. He did not think that was an inappropriate thing to say to me.”
But reps for D’Acampo hit back, telling ITV: “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.”
