Melanie Sykes has claimed Gino D’Acampo was sent to etiquette and media training, but his Italian background was used as an ‘excuse’.
This Morning star D’Acampo 48, is facing allegations from dozens of people who have worked with him over a 12-year period, with complaints of alleged bullying and sexually inappropriate comments.
His alleged behaviour has been described as ‘unacceptable,’ ‘distressing’ and ‘horrendous’.
D’Acampo has ‘firmly denied’ the allegations, and said they are ‘deeply upsetting’, remaining out of the spotlight since.
The likes of Jeremy Clarkson have spoken out since the allegations emerged, and now his former co-host Melanie, 55, has urged TV bosses to take action and ‘clean out’ their ‘misogynistic’ talent.
The former radio presenter, who previously revealed her experience with Gregg Wallace led her to quit TV, and has spoken out against the BBC and ITV in the past, presented ITV’s Let’s Do Lunch with Gino between 2011 and 2014.
Speaking of her two decades working in showbiz on her YouTube channel, she said: ‘If you’re going to support somebody’s bed behaviour, you create monsters.
The pair hosted Let’s Do Lunch together from 2011 to 2014 (Picture: Ken McKay/Shutterstock)
D’Acampo has denied all allegations (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
‘The industry creates monsters, and then the industry go, “oh we didn’t know,” and you did know, your silence creates monsters.’
‘If you’ve gone that little bit too far and nobody pulled you up on it, you’ve got no reason to believe you can’t go even further,’ she went on.
‘And if you’re paid to have that outrageous output in the name of entertainment, again, why would you think you need to curb it?’
She claimed that ‘the presenter that everybody is talking about at the moment’ had to go to ‘some kind of etiquette and media training’ years ago but an excuse of him ‘being Italian’ and ‘not quite getting it’ was used.
‘Years ago there were some rumblings about the fact that the presenter that everybody is talking about at the moment went to some kind of etiquette, media training, because he’s Italian and the translation and he’s not quite getting it,’ she said.
Melanie Sykes has spoken out amid the allegations against her former co-host (Picture: Steve Meddle/Shutterstock)
Sykes claimed D’Acampo had ‘etiquette and media training’ (Picture: Steve Meddle/Shutterstock)
‘It’s an insult to Italians,’ she said, adding: ‘And a stupid way of dealing with it, a very narrow-minded, dumbass way of responding to bad behaviour from a human being in the workspace.’
She went on: ‘I remember once when Gino said to me he can just go up to the powers that be and knock on the door and go in, he doesn’t need a meeting.
‘He was quite pleased with himself that he could do that.’
She said she set up meetings through her agent, and felt like she had a ‘system to work through to get what I needed’.
Melanie added: ‘I feel like I was in a war zone in that industry – 24 years of battling through an industry that didn’t feel right to me anyway.’
She claimed ‘the industry creates monsters’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
Saying she’s now ‘on a peace trail’, she concluded: ‘If you’re spending all your time cleaning other people’s s***, just clean the house, clean out the house and start again, that’s all I’m saying.’
A spokesperson for D’Acampo told Metro: ‘Gino D’Acampo has vehemently denied all claims of inappropriate behaviour and has previously stated: “I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone. These allegations have never been raised with me before in over 80 productions.”‘
D’Acampo is best known for appearing on shows including This Morning, and also fronted Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip alongside Fred and Gordon Ramsay since 2018, which follows the trio visiting various countries and cities and exploring local culture and cuisine.
It was reported in December that he was ‘slowly being sidelined’ by ITV after allegedly facing a string of inappropriate behaviour claims made against him.
Following the allegations, ITV said in a statement: ‘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.’
D’Acampo is facing a string of allegations against him (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
D’Acampo previously responded to the full claims with a statement: ‘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.’
ITV added in a statement: ‘ITV has made our position very clear. Our promise to those we work with is that where a complaint is made to ITV or serious concerns raised, we will look into it, and if we find that something inappropriate has happened, we will take action.’
