Gino D’Acampo admitted his behaviour was “dangerous” before allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour flooded in against him this week.

The TV chef, 48, said he had been walking a “fine line”, but could “get away with things” because of his personality and Italian accent. Gino, best known for appearances on This Morning and Celebrity Juice, is facing dozens of allegations dating back 12 years. More than 40 people claimed in an ITV News investigation they had seen or experienced inappropriate behaviour by the star.

And now bullish comments he made in 2022 have come back to haunt him. Asked about swearing and dropping innuendos on prime-time shows, Gino conceded: “There is a fine line on television and I’ve been walking that line for the past 10 to 15 years.

“It’s very dangerous the way I do it. But I can get away with it, with my accent and because I’m Gino and everybody knows me for a long time. There is this cancel culture, which everybody’s freaking out about,” he told the Sun. Instead of fighting the cancel culture, they should do what I do. I don’t care what those people say.”

Gino echoed the same sentiments in another interview, but insisted he meant no harm. He told Closer magazine: “We’re living in an era now where you have to be really careful with what you say, but I can’t do that. Everyone knows I mean well… I don’t mean it with maliciousness.”

He previously said he had been walking a ‘fine line’ ( 
Image:
Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

He has been accused of inappropriate behaviour ( 
Image:
Ken McKay / Rex Features)
Dad-of-three Gino, who married wife Jessica in 2002, added: “I’m going to carry on the way I have been for the last 24 years and if the time comes when it’s my time to go, then it’s my time to go.” The star is alleged to have made crude, sexual comments to colleagues that left them distressed and upset.

But in a statement to ITV News, Gino “firmly denied” the allegations and his legal team said he did not recognise the incidents. One woman who complained said: “He could have come out and said he was sorry. It is classic bully behaviour.” Another branded his “blanket denial” as “disappointing”. Kim Woodburn, who was runner-up when Gino won I’m A Celebrity in 2009, was among the women to speak out against him.

The 82-year-old claimed he had touched himself and made comments about being deprived of sex in the jungle, which made her feel “uncomfortable”. Clips showing Gino’s risque behaviour have surfaced, including one of him appearing naked and talking about threesomes on This Morning.

Another of his shows, Gordon, Gino and Fred’s Road Trip – filmed with fellow chef Gordon Ramsay and First Dates star Fred Sirieix – came to an abrupt end amid a fall-out in 2022. All of Gino’s ITV shows have now been removed from its schedule.

ITV said it did not know about “most” of the complaints, but it had acted when issues were raised and would “now be following up on those not previously reported”.