Melanie Sykes takes swipe at former ITV co-host Gino D'Acampo
The TV chef has found himself at the centre of a firestorm after ITV News reported dozens of allegations against him, describing 'unacceptable', 'distressing' and 'horrendous' behaviour over a 12-year period. He has strongly denied all wrongdoing.
Now, Sykes, who recently revealed a comment made by MasterChef host Gregg Wallace made her quit the TV industry, has shared an alleged behind-the-scenes experience with D'Acampo that made her raise her eyebrows. The star presented ITV series Let's Do Lunch with Gino and Mel alongside D'Acampo from 2011 to 2014.
Highlighting the apparent power she alleges D'Acampo thought he had, Sykes said on her YouTube channel: '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.'
She also urged TV bosses to 'clean house' while spending time 'cleaning up' presenters she called 'misogynistic' – and said that 'the industry creates monsters'.
'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,' Sykes added.
'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.'
D'Acampo has denied claims that he made sexualised comments and gestures to female employees behind the scenes of his popular programmes.
He said earlier this month: 'I have never been made aware of these matters previously and the allegations are firmly denied. I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone. This is simply not in my nature. I do not recognise the version of events being put to me.
'Not only have these allegations never been raised with me before, I have been repeatedly supported by executives at the highest level and was commissioned on prime-time programmes during the period in which it is now suggested I was acting inappropriately.
'I take such matters extremely seriously and the suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.'
Sykes previously criticised the TV industry for failing to stamp out poor behaviour by high-profile stars in December, stating: 'I know that people think, 'Oh well, you know we can't get rid of him really because it's such a successful show', and it's sort of fear about changing the format in case viewers don't watch.'
Sykes spoke out against Wallace in her autobiography Illuminated, which was published in 2023 – one year before an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against the MasterChef host surfaced.
In the book, Sykes claimed that Wallace asked her as she walked onto set of the show's celebrity special whether models eat, which she deemed 'unprofessional'.
The TV personality, who once hosted a daytime show with Des O'Connor, said the remark stemmed from 'ignorance and disrespect with an extra helping of arrogance'.
Sykes wrote in her book: ''The MasterChef experience continued to be an eye-opener and some unprofessional behaviour on set was jaw-dropping.'
But it was a conversation with Wallace at the end of filming that made her decide to quit the TV industry 'once and for all'.
Writing in Illuminated, Sykes, who has been on screens since the 1990s, said that Wallace told her appearing on Celebrity MasterChef would help her career.
'I didn't know what to say, so I smiled and said 'Yes,' but I was really thinking, 'Yes, you have finally helped me decide to end my television career once and for all,'' Sykes wrote, adding: 'I was done.'
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