Video report by ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia
Words by Liz Little, Original Journalism Producer
Warning: This article contains graphic language
An ITV News investigation has uncovered numerous allegations of inappropriate and intimidating behaviour by celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo.
Dozens of people have detailed experiences described variously as “unacceptable,” “distressing” and “horrendous” while working with him over a period spanning more than 12 years.
And ITV News has seen evidence which shows at least one production company was aware of multiple concerns raised by members of their crew about Gino D’Acampo – but continued to work with him on further TV programmes.
Responding to the claims, D’Acampo told ITV News he “firmly denied” the allegations, adding they were “deeply upsetting”.
Those who have shared their experiences with ITV News say they are fearful of the consequences of speaking out against a high-profile figure, so aspects of their identities have been protected.
One woman, Hannah, told ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia of a highly sexualised comment she says was made by Gino D’Acampo, and directed at her when they were working together on a magazine shoot in 2011.
In front of the entire crew, she says D’Acampo told her he would “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter.”
She says she remembers “a ripple of laughs” while the people stood beside her “looked nervously into their cups of tea”.
Hannah described feeling “horror” and “shock” – but said she wasn’t surprised that nobody else called out the comment. She said: “I definitely saw it as some kind of power play. The very act of what he said was aggressive.”
She told ITV News it made her feel “very, very, very small…I felt like Gino, in that moment, was very entitled and he felt very safe.
“He did not think that was an inappropriate thing to say to me.”
A statement provided to ITV News by Gino 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” .
Hannah isn’t alone in her claims.
Another woman, we’re calling Natalie, detailed an encounter on a TV production several years later that she says she found “aggressive” while briefing Gino D’Acampo on a location shoot.
“He opened the door in his boxer shorts, nothing else. And jumped on the bed and was sort of – leg up.
“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.”
When asked how that made her feel she said: “Disgusted. I think he feels he’s in a position of power and he can say and do what he wants. I see it all as quite aggressive, really.”
She said it made her consider leaving her job.
“I didn’t want to do it anymore. Didn’t want to do the production, didn’t want to be anywhere near him,” she added.
In response to the claims, Gino D’Acampo’s 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.”
Most of the people ITV News spoke to as part of this investigation told us they were too afraid to make complaints as they were working as freelancers – often on short term contracts. In a tight-knit, competitive industry, they told us they felt it would risk securing future employment.
For similar reasons, some former colleagues of Gino D’Acampo said they were too afraid to go on camera. Instead, they sent statements about what they witnessed while working with him.
One woman told us she saw him appearing to threaten a young colleague over an ice cream in 2019.
She told us: “I was present when Gino said to the runner, ‘If you don’t get me a Cornetto I will f*** your girlfriend.’
“I felt appalled, disgusted, embarrassed and very angry.”
Another female crew member present at the time said the comment “stuck in my head for years… He was using his power to bully and intimidate us. For what? A cookery programme.”
She said she believes D’Acampo’s “‘cheeky chappy’ persona allows him to hide in plain sight. If I see him on the TV I have to leave the room.”
Responding to those allegations, D’Acampo’s legal team said: “Mr D’Acampo is mortified to be accused of saying inappropriate words to a junior member of staff on ‘Gino’s Italian Express’. He does not recall this incident at all, and the words alleged are absolutely not ones that he would say.”
In further claims, a woman, we’re calling Lena, told ITV News of other highly sexualised remarks she says were made by Gino D’Acampo in 2018.
While on set for the filming of ‘Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip,’ she said “without saying hello, good morning – he just announced loudly that he felt like f****** that morning.
“Yeah, ‘I really feel like a s*** this morning’. And off he went.”
The treatment she says she witnessed of the production team was “completely unacceptable in any workplace” and “wrong”. She adds more should have been done by the production company to put an end to his behaviour.
“It should not be up to any crew member, production team member, to constantly walk on eggshells and try and police the behaviour of a grown man,” she told ITV News.
Several other incidents from the same production in 2018 have been told to ITV News by crew members who say they found them disturbing.
D’Acampo is alleged to have made a comment about another young female colleague. They claim he said, “Shouldn’t we be talking about her t***, 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.”
Bosses at the production company behind ‘Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Roadtrip’ in 2018 appear to have been aware of concerns about D’Acampo’s behaviour.
ITV News has seen evidence concerns were raised with production company Objective Media Group over several sexualised comments to members of the team.
ITV News has seen an email sent in December 2024, that was following up on a meeting that had happened in 2018.
The email detailed what was described as “unacceptable and distressing” behaviour by D’Acampo, and included comments he was heard to have made such as describing a woman as a “bitter middle aged woman who needed to get laid”, saying he was “so hungry I could eat somebody’s t***”, and describing mozzarella as “wetter than p******.”
We have seen the response to this 2024 email, which had been seeking assurance that the bad behaviour was not continuing. The response from the production company Objective Media Group says D’Acampo was “spoken to about the differences between on screen character material and behaviour off screen with members of the team”.
It also said that “issues arose on ‘Emission Impossible'” – a production five years later in 2023 – “a complete and thorough process” was followed with the stars of the show.
A separate response from ITV to the 2024 email said the broadcaster was not made aware of the original concerns in 2018 and they said: “We can categorically confirm that this kind of behaviour is not tolerated by ITV.”
Responding to the allegations, Gino D’Acampo’s legal team told ITV News: “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.
“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'”.
ITV News put Gino D’Acampo’s response back to Objective Media Group.
A spokesperson for them said: “As we made clear in our earlier statement, Gino D’Acampo was spoken to regarding his off-screen behaviour. Bespoke training was then provided and completed”.
ITV News, which is made by ITN, an independent production company, understands there was also an internal investigation about D’Acampo’s behaviour in 2022, at another production company – Betty TV – which is owned by Objective Media Group. We understand concerns were raised about inappropriate behaviour and language on the set of ‘Gino’s Italy – Like Mamma Used to Make’.
In response, D’Acampo’s lawyers said: “Mr D’Acampo does not know anything about any alleged internal investigation regarding his behaviour on the ‘Gino’s Italian Family Adventure’, by Betty TV in 2022.
“He was never told about this and no one ever complained to him that his behaviour or language on that set was inappropriate. He continued to be commissioned by Betty TV the following year”.
“Passionate but professional”
A number of people who spoke with ITV News said they’d had positive experiences working with D’Acampo.
One anonymous former colleague told us: “Gino was always a pleasure to work with during my time at This Morning…Off-air Gino didn’t involve himself in the team parties or become overly friendly with members of the team, he was just professional. Passionate but professional.”
Another anonymous colleague said they’d had “some utterly magical moments” working with Gino D’Acampo over the past 12 years. They added: “Does Gino like to have a laugh? Absolutely, but never at the expense of anyone on set or of the production.”
Though a number of those contacted by ITV News told us they felt unable to comment due to their contracts.
Many of the people we spoke to said they felt D’Acampo was protected, one woman said she believed this was because he “makes channels money”.
Hannah, Natalie and Lena all said they had refused to work with D’Acampo again. They each expressed a desire to see a change in the industry, to better protect production staff.
Most recently Gino D’Acampo has been the host of one of ITV’s longest-running gameshows Family Fortunes.
But ITV News understands the series, filmed in 2023, is not currently scheduled for broadcast and ITV has no plans to work with D’Acampo.
Gino D’Acampo Statement
Responding to the claims in their entirety, 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.”
In May 2023, ITV announced it had instructed Jane Mulcahy KC to carry out an external review following the departure of Phillip Schofield from This Morning after 20 years on the show. Days after leaving, Schofield admitted to lying about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair he had with a younger colleague on the show.
The announcement prompted a public conversation about the power dynamic between on-screen personalities and more junior members of staff within the television industry.
The review concluded there was “no finding of a ‘toxic’ culture” at the ITV programme. Mulcahy added she had “no doubt that senior management are absolutely wedded to the importance of an open culture…But this culture is still not filtering down to junior employees, many of whom remain convinced that to speak out will have a detrimental impact on their careers.”
TV host Gregg Wallace stepped back from the hit BBC One cooking show MasterChef last year as production company Banijay UK began investigating claims of alleged misconduct – which he denies. A memo sent to staff by the BBC director-general, Tim Davie, and Charlotte Moore, chief content officer, said the corporation would be supporting the investigation. The investigation is on-going.
The ITV Conduct and Standards Guidelines for Onscreen Personalities states that: “Our on screen talent are the centre of our shows. Because of that their behaviour can have a disproportionate impact on those around them – especially more junior colleagues. A word of praise can make someone’s day while a terse word can ruin a person’s week.”
It goes on: “Inappropriate behaviour will always be acted upon, and in the most serious cases may lead to the termination of ITV’s relationship with the individual concerned.”
ITV News contacted all of the production companies involved in the making of the programmes mentioned in this investigation – as well as ITV. You can read their full statements here.
A spokesperson from ITV said that 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.”
They went on to say that all of the concerns and complaints in this investigation “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.”
MultiStory Media, which produced ‘Gino’s Italian Express’, told us it would would be “inappropriate to go into the detail of individual concerns” but said they are “reviewing the concerns which have been raised, what was known at the time and what action was taken. We will also look at any new concerns that have come to light.”
Objective Media Group, which co-produced ‘Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip’ in 2018, 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”.
‘Secrets of South’, ‘Like Mamma Used to Make’ and ‘Emission Impossible’ were produced by Betty TV under Objective Media Group.
Studio Ramsay, which produced ‘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.”
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