Eighties icon Paul Young has revealed his past encounters with under-fire Gino D’Acampo, after the TV chef stole £4,000 worth of guitars from his North London home
Eighties legend Paul Young has shared his true feelings about under-fire chef Gino D’Acampo.
The music icon recently revealed he was left in intensive care after a horror holiday accident in the Greek island of Santorini. He has now extended an olive branch to This Morning chef Gino, who has been accused of and denies sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Paul has forgiven the TV chef, who in 1998 went to prison for breaking into the musician’s North London home. D’Acampo, who was 21 at the time, stole £4,000 worth of guitars and a platinum record from Paul’s property.
He was sentenced to two years behind bars for the crime. But Paul had nothing but nice things to say about the controversial ITV star, and declared “we all make mistakes”.
In an interview with the Mirror, Paul was asked how he would respond if urged for his views on Gino. He said: “I’ve only commented on it once, and that was on the Jeremy Vine show shortly after it happened. You know, I wish him well.
Referencing D’Acampo’s complaints scandal, Paul said: “I hope he comes out of this okay. We all make mistakes in our life and I got most of what was stolen, I got most of it back.”
Gino was working as a waiter at The Orchard restaurant when he committed the robbery on Paul’s property. However, Paul has revealed that he has bumped into D’Acampo on several occasions over the years – and it appears the pair have no bad blood between them.
But it seems TV bosses have tried their best to keep the two apart. He stated: “Sometimes I’d go to ITV to be on Good Morning Britain or something like that and someone said, ‘Gino D’Acampo’s here’ but then I think they move people around so that we conveniently don’t bump into each other.
“But I have done a couple of times. I’d go, ‘oh, hi. How are you?’. Everything’s alright. I absolutely agree [with forgiveness].”
Gino has been accused of “sexually inappropriate behaviour” with claims from “dozens” of people spanning over 12 years. His alleged behaviour has been described as “unacceptable, distressing and horrendous” and now ITV has pulled the star’s shows from their schedule.
The claims emerged from an ITV News probe and come from people who allegedly worked with Gino. He has “firmly denied” the allegations and said they are “deeply upsetting”.
Paul has recently recovered from his terrifying accident in Santorini which left him with multiple fractures. Paul suffered a fall during his holiday that resulted in him needing three emergency blood transfusions and intense surgery on his upper leg.
He told the Mirror: “I fell and my leg cracked as soon as I hit the step. Once I’d gone down, I couldn’t stop. There was no handrail, so nothing to hold on to.
“I just thought, ‘I’ve lost control’. I fell down to three or four more steps, fracturing my leg again and again. It was a multi-fracture.
“When I came to a stop, I looked down and my leg was in a slightly weird position, underneath my bottom. I thought ‘I don’t like that. My leg shouldn’t be like that’, so I tried to straighten it up and that’s when the pain started”.”
Paul has required extensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy rehabilitation and now he is recovering well and keen to resume touring. After he finishes his final UK show in early June – which will include a QandA session for fans – Paul will head to the United States for a tour alongside Australian-American artist Rick Springfield.
He has decided to hire a personal trainer in a bid to get in shape for the tour. On staying active, he said: “I’ve got a fitness girl coming in to make sure I’m able to get around. When I’ve got days off, and whenever I get back, I’ll be training. I’m just trying to do as much as I can.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
