A resurfaced clip shows Gino D’Acampo once making a shocking joke about Holly Willoughby while they were live on air.
The celebrity chef is currently facing accusations of ‘inappropriate and intimidating behaviour’ from dozens of people over the past 12 years, according to ITV News.
D’Acampo has ‘firmly denied’ the allegations made about him as production staff say they had ‘unacceptable’, ‘distressing’ and horrendous’ experiences with him.
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And a pair who have had plenty of experience working with him on TV is, of course, Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
One of his many previous appearances on This Morning has resurfaced online, as D’Acampo made a reference to Willoughby’s genitals.
Back in 2021, the chef was discussing the death of ‘the father of Tiramisu’, Ado Campeol, as he went through the locations of Italian cities. But known for making plenty of innuendos on telly, he used the presenter’s body as a map.
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He pointed across her shoulders and chest as he explained where Savoiardi biscuit comes from before Schofield said: “I'm really concerned if he's going to talk about Sicily.”
“No, Sicily’s all the way down there!” the chef said as he continued referring to Willoughby: "But your belly button - I was born in Naples which is on your side but I went to school where the Vesuvius is."
And this then led to what seemed like a pretty typical D’Acampo joke: “So, it's more inland, so... er, I can technically say that I spent my youth training and playing around your vagina.”
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This got a ‘oh my god’ from Willoughby as the presenters were left stunned before the chef backed up: “There is nothing wrong with that. It is just a word that everybody knows and that's what I have been doing geographically."
Schofield rounded off the joke as he said to the camera: “Morning Ofcom.”
What seemed like a standard D’Acampo joke at the time now has a little edge to it due to the allegations.
At the time, some viewers did reportedly slam on X that he was ‘going over the mark’, as they called it ‘not funny’ and ‘so disgusting’ as they were shocked it was ‘deemed ok to say’ live on air.
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LADbible has contacted his team for comment on this resurfaced clip, and D’Acampo has denied allegations made against him as he said in a statement to ITV News: “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.
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"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."
ITV provided a statement to LADbible, which reads: "ITV is completely committed to creating an environment where everyone is treated with respect and feels able to give of their best. Our promise to those we work with is that where a complaint is made, or serious concern raised, we will always investigate and if we find that something inappropriate has happened, we will take action.
"The same standards are expected of all production companies who make programmes on ITV’s behalf. 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. We make clear our expectations of producers and have robust and comprehensive policies which we implement contractually.
"We have strengthened these policies in the last 5 years and have set up a dedicated Complaints Handling Unit in 2024 to manage any complaints we receive about on screen presenters and ensure ITV has a centralised view across different productions.
"The standards of behaviour that ITV expects are very clear. Everyone working with ITV is subject to ITV’s Code of Ethics and Conduct. At ITV we treat everyone with courtesy, fairness, dignity and respect and do not tolerate abusive behaviour of any form in the workplace. We have also reiterated our expectations of our on screen presenters’ behaviour through our Conduct and Standards Guidelines for On Screen Personalities issued in 2024. All of the concerns and complaints raised by those who have spoken to ITN 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. We can only act where we know that concerns have been raised, and will now be following up on those that had not previously been reported to us.
"If anyone has experienced or witnessed inappropriate behaviour while working on an ITV show, we encourage them to raise their concerns with us either directly or through our confidential speaking up hotline Safecall (www.safecall.co.uk/report)."
Topics: Gino D'Acampo, Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield, This Morning, ITV
Jess Battison