Gino D’Acampo has been accused of “inappropriate behaviour” towards an ITV employee over five years.
TV chef Gino, 48, has been a firm favourite by ITV bosses for two decades after he burst onto the scene on the likes of This Morning. However, the channel has now had word from an unnamed source who made claims of harassment against the star.
Former I’m A Celebrity winner Gino was accused by the source, who was a former employee at ITV, of the unacceptable behaviour over the course of five years from 2006 and 2011. The complaint made against the Italian star was only lodged to ITV bosses last week.
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Speaking to The Sun, a source close to the former employee claimed: “She worked with him for five years. She has come forward after being spurred on by the Gregg Wallace scandal and the comment he made about his accusers being middle-class women of a certain age.”
(Image: ITV)
The woman reportedly felt compelled to speak up in the wake of the Gregg Wallace scandal, after 13 complaints were made about his conduct on set. The MasterChef star has now said he will step back from hosting the BBC cooking show while an internal probe is launched to deal with the elements of the complaints.
An ITV spokesperson said: “We made our position clear following the outcome of our KC Review last year after which we said, ‘We are 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 concerns raised, we will always investigate and if we find that something inappropriate has happened, we will take action.
(Image: ITV)
“We will continue to develop our efforts to give junior colleagues the confidence to speak up if they have something to raise. Following the review we reiterated our expectations and introduced Conduct and Standards Guidelines for On Screen Personalities which outlines our expectations in terms of behaviour, and have also previously offered training in language and behaviour, either directly or through our third party producers, where appropriate.”
Daily Star has contacted a representative for Gino for comment.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
