ITV News investigation finds allegations of ‘unacceptable’ and ‘distressing’ behaviour on shows TV chef worked on

Gino D’Acampo said he ‘firmly denied’ the allegations, which were ‘deeply upsetting’. Photograph: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock

The TV chef Gino D’Acampo has denied accusations of inappropriate behaviour including using sexualised and aggressive language over a period of 12 years.

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.

D’Acampo “firmly denied” the allegations in a statement to ITV News, saying they were “simply not in my nature” and describing them as “deeply upsetting”.

The chef began his TV career in the early 2000s as a judge on the ITV cookery competition Too Many Cooks before achieving fame as the winner of series nine of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! in 2009. He went on to become a regular chef on ITV’s prime daytime show This Morning.

He has also presented the ITV gameshow Family Fortunes, and has hosted a number of his own cooking programmes.

Reruns of old D’Acampo shows have been pulled from the ITV schedule in response to the claims.

Among the allegations reported by ITV News are those made by women working on shows including Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip, Gino’s Italian Express and Gino’s Italy – Like Mamma Used to Make.

In response to the claims, D’Acampo 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 10 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.”

The Guardian has approached D’Acampo’s representatives for comment.

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.”

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 threatening 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.”

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”.