Melanie Sykes has hit out at Gino D’Acampo after the pair worked together on Celebrity Juice. Gino currently faces allegations of inappropriate and intimidating behaviour spanning 12 years, which he denies

Melanie Sykes, 55, has waded into the Gino D’Acampo ‘scandal’ and blasted the TV industry for “creating monsters.”

The presenter – who previously said she quit TV after working with Gregg Wallace – urged executives to take responsibility and remove individuals who contribute to a sexist culture, as fresh misconduct allegations surface against This Morning chef Gino.

Melanie and Gino worked together on the ITV daytime show Let’s Do Lunch with Gino & Mel from 2011 to 2014. Gino handled the cooking while Melanie led the presenting, with celebrity guests joining them each episode.

However, Melanie left television for good in 2021 after receiving an inappropriate comment from former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace. The TV star spoke out against the celebrity chef, also criticising executives for allowing such figures a platform—particularly on the game show Celebrity Juice, where Gino was a regular fixture.

Melanie Sykes has hit out at Gino D’Acampo and the TV industry, claiming it enables toxic behaviour and needs a major clean-up ( 
Image:
TV Grab)

Melanie said on her YouTube channel: “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.

“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.”

Melanie also disclosed that, instead of properly addressing the situation, bosses sent Gino to etiquette training. She said: “Years ago there was some kind of rumblings about the presenter that everybody’s talking about at the moment, went to some kind of etiquette media training because he’s Italian and the translation, he’s not quite getting it… it’s an insult to Italians. A stupid way of dealing with it. A very narrow-minded, dumb**s way of responding to bad behaviour from a human being in the workspace.”

Gino has been accused of “distressing” and “sexually inappropriate” behaviour in an ITV News probe earlier this month. Dozens of people have detailed experiences described variously as “unacceptable,” “distressing” and “horrendous” while working with him over a period spanning more than 12 years.

The TV chef who has appeared on the likes of ITV’s Family Fortunes and Gino and Fred: Emission Impossible faces accusations dating back over ten years. Individuals are said to have been fearful of any consequences if they ever spoke of their alleged encounters with the 48-year-old.

Gino has been accused of ‘distressing’ and ‘sexually inappropriate’ behaviour in an ITV News probe earlier this month ( 
Image:
ITV)

Gino has “firmly denied” the allegations made by “dozens” of people”, adding that they were “deeply upsetting”. One woman, who has been named as Hannah to protect her identity has told an investigation that she was on the receiving end of vulgar comments from Gino in 2011.

She claims Mr D’Acampo said he would “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter.” The woman, whose identity has been protected claims that there were laughs from crew members after he made the comment. But she says she saw the “shock” and “horror”, claiming his alleged behaviour made her feel “very, very, very small.”

Speaking to ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia, Hannah added: “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.”

In response, Gino’s legal representatives told the outlet: “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.”