Gino D'Acampo

Gino D'Acampo
D'Acampo in March 2012
Born	Gennaro D'Acampo Torre del Greco, Naples, Italy[1]
Residence	Elstree, Hertfordshire
Occupation	Celebrity chef, television personality
Employer	ITV
Television	This Morning I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Let's Do Lunch Let's Do Christmas There's No Taste Like Home Gino's Italian Escape Celebrity Juice
Spouse(s)	Jessica Stellina Morrison (m. 2001)
Children	3
Website	Official website

Gennaro "Gino" Sheffield D'Acampo^[2] is an Italian celebrity chef and media personality, best known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks.

D'Acampo rose to fame as a regular chef on the ITV show This Morning. He has since presented cookery programmes including Let's Do Lunch (2011–2014), There's No Taste Like Home (2011) and Gino's Italian Escape (2013–present).

Career

In 1995, aged 19, D'Acampo moved to London to work in The Orchard Restaurant, Hampstead, London and the Cambio Restaurant in Guildford, Surrey.

D'Acampo co-owns Bontà Italia Ltd, a supplier of Italian ingredients and has a career in the development of ready meals, beginning with the Tesco Finest range. This experience led to his first engagement as a guest on Great Food Live on UKTV Food and the start of his television career.

In 2009, D'Acampo was crowned King of the Jungle after appearing in the ninth series of I'm a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here!. After the show, D'Acampo and fellow contestant Stuart Manning were charged by the Australian police with animal cruelty for killing and cooking a rat on the show. However, the charges were later dropped after ITV accepted responsibility for the incident.^[3]

D'Acampo has regularly appears on the ITV series This Morning. He launched his first iPhone app "Gino D'Acampo – Eating Italian" in 2010.^[4]

From 2011 until 2014, D'Acampo and Melanie Sykes presented the daytime cookery programme Let's Do Lunch With Gino and Mel.^[5] The show aired for four series as well as three Christmas series from 2012 until 2014. D'Acampo hosts a Sunday afternoon cookery and discussion show on LBC 97.3.

In 2011, D'Acampo presented the daytime cookery series There's No Taste Like Home for thirty episodes.^[6]

In 2013, D'Acampo's launched a chain of restaurants called My Pasta Bar.^[7][8] There are currently five restaurants open to the public. His first Pasta Bar opened on Fleet Street in July 2013. There are also restaurants in Leadenhall Market, Bishopsgate, Euston railway station and The Manchester Corn Exchange^[9]

Since 2013, D'Acampo has presented Gino's Italian Escape on ITV. To accompany each series, a cookery book is also released.^[10][11] The latest series of the show began airing in November 2015.

In Autumn 2014, D'Acampo filled in as a team captain for Holly Willoughby on the ITV2 panel show Celebrity Juice, while she went on maternity leave. Gino also appeared in the following series in Spring 2015, this time as a regular panellist.^[12] D'Acampo returned to Celebrity Juice in September 2015 where he replaced Fearne Cotton as team captain whilst she is on maternity leave.

In 2015, Gino toured the UK with a live stage show called Gino's Italian Escape to accompany his television series. He visited cities including Bath, Newcastle and Margate.^[13]

D'Acampo stays true to simple Italian cuisine and often returns to the Luigi de Medici College to give talks to students and do live demonstrations. He is a member of the Federazione Italiana Cuochi and the Associazione Professionale Cuochi Italiani. D'Acampo was involved in the Gala Dinner for Luciano Pavarotti in 2002 and a private party for the Italian Ambassador.

Guinness World Records

D'Acampo is the current record holder for six Guinness World Records, most of which he set or broke on his television show Let's Do Lunch.

• On 2 September 2011, D'Acampo broke the Guinness World Record for "The most ravioli made in two minutes" making 22. This record was later broken by Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo. On 25 July 2013, D'Acampo re-attempted the record and made 32.
• On 10 August 2012, D'Acampo set the new Guinness World Record for "The most chocolate truffles made in two minutes".
• On 31 August 2012, D'Acampo set the new Guinness World Record for "Running across custard for the longest time".
• On 15 December 2013, D'Acampo set the new Guinness World Record for "The most bottles of champagne opened in one minute". He managed to open 7 bottles, breaking the previous record of 6 in a minute. This was broken in 2014
• On 15 December 2013, while appearing on Through the Keyhole, D'Acampo broke the Guinness World Record for "The most Christmas crackers broken in one minute by a team of two" with Keith Lemon.
• On 24 December 2013, D'Acampo set the new Guinness World Record with Melanie Sykes for "The most jumpers put on in one minute" by managing to put on 11 jumpers in one minute to set a new record.

Books

• Fantastico! (2007)
• Buonissimo! (2008)
• The Italian Diet (2010)
• Gino's Pasta (2011)
• Italian Home Baking (2011)
• Gino's Italian Escape (2013)
• Gino's Italian Escape: A Taste of the Sun^[14][15] (2014)
• Gino's Veg Italia! 100 Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes^[16] (2015)
• Gino's Italian Escape: Islands in the Sun (2015)

Personal life

D'Acampo lives with his wife Jessica whom he married in 2002.^[17]

D'Acampo is a fan of the rugby union team Leicester Tigers.^[18] The family live in Elstree in Hertfordshire.

In 1998, D'Acampo was convicted of burgling the home of singer Paul Young and served two years in prison.^[19]

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

• The Paul O'Grady Show (15 December 2009) – Guest
• Celebrity Juice (29 April 7 October 2010, 17 February 10 March, 10 November 2011, 8 March 4 October 2012, 19 September 2013, 1 May 2014) – Guest panellist
• Odd One In (4 September 2010) – Guest panellist
• Countdown (2010) – 'Dictionary Corner' guest
• Richard Bacon's Beer & Pizza Club (27 October 2010) – Guest
• All Star Family Fortunes (30 October 2010) – Contestant
• Celebrity Grimefighters (16 September 2010)
• The Wright Stuff (14 February 2011, 18 April 2014) – Guest panellist
• Michael Bublé: Home for Christmas (18 December 2011) – Guest
• The Jonathan Ross Show (16 February 2013) – Guest
• Surprise Surprise (29 September 2013) – Guest
• Through the Keyhole (15 December 2013, 29 August 2015) – Celebrity homeowner/panellist
• Weekend at Christmas (28 December 2014) – Guest
• Stella (10 April 2015) – Guest appearance, as himself
• Celebrity Squares (19 April 2015) – Guest

References

External links

• Official website
• My Pasta Bar official website