Gino D’Acampo is currently facing allegations of acting in a “sexually inappropriate” way – but it’s not the first scandal he’s been embroiled in…
TV Chef Gino has been accused of “unacceptable” and “horrendous” behaviour in “dozens” of allegations spanning over a decade. The claims – which Gino has “firmly denied” – came to light this week, following an investigation published by ITV News.
Here, we take a look back at the previous times Gino has found himself in hot water…
His Celebrity Juice ‘joke’ cost him a lot (Credit: ITV)
Gino D’Acampo allegations: Past drunken ‘joke’ that led to £20k fine
In 2024, Gino shared that a joke he made on panel show Celebrity Juice cost him a huge £20,000…
The incident happened when Gino was a team captain on the show. After getting drunk, he revealed that he changed his middle name to Sheffield after losing a bet.
“I was not in a mind state which was normal, and I lost the bet. I just said it like that: ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever,’ not thinking that those idiots would bring me the piece of paper for me to sign and send it off,” he said on the White Wine Question Time podcast.
“So I had a nightmare for two, three years of passports, American visas.”
Gino continued: “We had to have it removed for an American visa. I had this passport with Sheffield and all of that, and then I applied to go for waivers when you go to America and they didn’t like the fact. ‘Why?’ they were asking me.
“How am I going to explain to the American people I was drunk. They couldn’t get their heads around why would I put that in two Italian names. So for them it was a bit dodgy.”
Thinking enough is enough, Gino went to his lawyers. He recalled: “The lawyer said: ‘Do everybody a favour, can we please go back to your real name.’ This is how it happened, but six, seven years later.”
And when asked if cost a lot to rectify, Gino replied: “I would say knowing how much does it cost legal, with visas and stuff like that, about 20 grand, easy.
“But you know what, I wouldn’t change. I have no regrets in my life. So I would do it again.”
Gino was sent to prison for robbing Paul (Credit: ITV)
Gino D’Acampo was jailed for burglary at Paul Young’s home
Back in 1998, Gino was jailed for breaking into singer Paul Young London’s home. The budding chef was just 21 years old at the time and worked as a waiter at The Orchard restaurant in London.
Breaking into Paul’s home in Mill Hill, North London, Gino helped himself to a platinum record and guitars worth a reported £4,000.
Gino was eventually caught when his DNA matched tests on cigarette ends he left in Paul’s bedroom during the break in. Paul got most of his belongings back – and Gino was then sent to prison for two years.
In 2019, Gino reflected on the robbery, calling it a “mistake”. He told Birmingham Live: “It was a very crucial moment of my life. It was about embracing something negative and turning it into something positive.
“I was a very young boy… you make those mistakes. The secret is to learn and to move on.”
Gino also reached out to Paul personally for the break-in.
Paul said in 2012: “I don’t hold it against him. He said it was bad and he apologised, and I did get most of the stuff back. Maybe he needed his wrist slapping and he got that. He said he was in a terrible place at that time and wanted to turn his life around.”
He ruffled feathers during his I’m A Celeb stint (Credit: ITV)
Gino on I’m A Celeb ‘rat-gate’
Gino took part in I’m A Celebrity… in 2009 – going on to win the show.
But along with Stuart Manning, Gino found himself in hot water when the pair killed and cooked a rodent on the ITV show.
At the time, Gino and Stuart faced three years in jail for animal cruelty – with Gino even being taken to a police station, less than an hour after winning the show.
“Literally 45 minutes after being crowned King of the Jungle I was in a police station and they wanted me in a cell,” he told Mirror at the time.
“It’s put a real dampener on the whole thing. I had no idea it was going to cause such uproar. I’m sorry if I offended anybody but we did what we had to do to eat.”
ITV went on to issue an apology for the killing and pledged to reform guidelines to ensure it doesn’t happen again. It was also reported that ITV was fined nearly £2,000 for the incident.
