Gino D’Acampo has revealed plans for a TV comeback, featuring a new travel series and a foray into acting.
The Italian TV chef, 48, is planning his return to screens after he denied a string of claims that he made sexualised comments and gestures to female employees behind the scenes of his popular programmes.
In February, ITV News reported that dozens of former staff and freelancers had detailed “unacceptable”, “distressing” and “horrendous” experiences while working with D’Acampo over a period of more than 12 years. D’Acampo saw his shows removed from ITV schedules as a result of the accusations against him, which he has strongly denied.
Speaking in a new interview with The Mirror, Gino’s Italian Escape star D’Acampo revealed new details about an unnamed series shot in Ireland, in which he will play an Italian-American mechanic.
“I am playing a part in a series, my part is this Italian-American mechanic that is always in trouble with the police or always in trouble with the law and then he became a mechanic and he's helping the main character in the show,” he explained.
It comes after he teased the role on Instagram in March, sharing a photo of him dressed as a car mechanic in overalls with dirt on his face.
“What a fantastic experience in Ireland working on a new series,” he wrote alongside the behind-the-scenes images. “I can’t wait for you guys to see it… ps Happy St Patrick’s Day.” He has not shared what channel it will be shown on.
In the same interview, D’Acampo discussed his plans to front a TV project, called An Italian in Malta, which will see him search for the best food experiences in the country.
“The idea is to show everyone all over the world a bit about the country – I want to find the perfect restaurant, the perfect recipe, the perfect spot, I will speak to the local people, what they cook and how they cooked 200 years ago,” he said.
His interest in the country comes alongside the opening of his first international restaurant in Malta, called Luciano.
Claims against the TV chef that surfaced in February include one woman’s allegations that she saw D’Acampo appear to threaten a colleague over 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,’” she said. “I felt appalled, disgusted, embarrassed and very angry.”
Another female crew member told ITV News he was “using his power to bully and intimidate us. For what? A cookery programme”.
D’Acampo firmly denied the claims, which he said were “simply not in my nature”, describing them as “deeply upsetting”.
The TV chef’s legal team said at the time: “Mr D’Acampo categorically denies these allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.”
D’Acampo began his career in the early 2000s as a judge on the ITV cookery competition Too Many Cooks before winning 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 and fronted the ITV gameshow Family Fortunes. He has hosted a number of his own cooking programmes.
