Melanie Sykes has voiced her concerns about the TV industry in light of the allegations levied against Gino D’Acampo.
Having co-hosted ‘Let’s Do Lunch with Gino and Mel’ alongside the embattled chef from 2011 to 2014, she took aim at TV executives for fostering an environment where personalities like Gino can thrive.
Sykes, who had a less than ideal experience with former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace which led to her to quitting TV in 2021, called out the bosses for not doing enough to curb ‘sexist behaviour’.
She singled out the way D’Acampo has been handled, especially his presence on shows such as ‘Celebrity Juice’.
On her YouTube channel, she expressed her frustration, saying: “Celebrity Juice was an abomination, the industry creates monsters. 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.”
Mel, who recently stepped away from television, added reflectively: “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. If you’re spending all your time cleaning up people’s s***, just clean the house, clean out the house and start again, that’s all I’m saying.”
Gino, who has presented ITV’s Family Fortunes and Gino and Fred: Emission Impossible, has been accused of “distressing” and “sexually inappropriate” behaviour.
An ITV News investigation earlier this month revealed allegations from dozens of individuals who described their experiences with him over a 12-year period as “unacceptable”, “distressing,” and “horrendous”.
The accusations against the 48-year-old date back over a decade, with many allegedly fearful of repercussions if they spoke out, reports the Mirror.
Gino has “firmly denied” these allegations, expressing that he finds them “deeply upsetting”.
A woman, identified only as Hannah to protect her identity, has claimed that she was subjected to vulgar comments from Gino in 2011. She alleges that D’Acampo said he would “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter.”
Despite laughter from crew members, Hannah insists she saw “shock” and “horror” in their reactions, and felt “very, very, very small” due to his alleged behaviour.
In an interview with ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia, Hannah further claimed: “I definitely saw it as some kind of power play. The very act of what he said was aggressive. He did not think that was an inappropriate thing to say to me.”
D’Acampo’s legal team has issued a firm response to the allegations, saying: “This allegation from almost 15 years ago has never, until now via a media request for comment, been raised or put to Mr D’Acampo.
“He does not recall it, nor accept that this happened. Mr D’Acampo is horrified to be accused of ‘power play’ and an ‘aggressive act’. He emphatically and unequivocally denies these allegations.”