According to reports, Gino D’Acampo is being “slowly sidelined” by ITV over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Which is a bit rich. Because anyone who has watched one of D’Acampo’s ITV appearances, including latest show Gino and Fred: Emission Impossible, will have seen that the broadcaster has been more than happy to indulge him as he brings every conversation back to sex, body parts and schoolboy innuendo, presumably because a large number of ITV viewers love it.
For this travel programme, he visited Austria with pal Fred Sirieix. In Vienna, they went on a wildlife tour. No prizes for guessing which animal the producers sent them to watch. “Beaver? Did you say beaver? I’m a huge beaver fan,” grinned D’Acampo. “So we need to sit down and wait for the beaver to come to us? This is different.” “Sometimes you get a beaver and sometimes you don’t get a beaver, that’s life.” The wildlife guide sitting through this banter looked as if he was regretting the assignment. “I’m the beaver king!” said D’Acampo. “Good for you,” sighed the guide, in the tone of a weary parent dealing with a six-
year-old who won’t stop showing off.
Panto-style smut is harmless, but pantomimes also have other things going for them. In Emission Impossible, it’s the cornerstone of D’Acampo’s act. He makes Gregg Wallace look enigmatic. When a barman explained that he served blonde beer, D’Acampo yelped: “I like blondes!” Sirieix said “touch wood” in some context or other. “You want to touch wood? Here you go,” said D’Acampo, reaching for his crotch. He asked a vegan bodybuilder whether cutting out meat leads to a better sex life. He had a beaver tattooed on his backside. And on it went.
Fred joined in with the high jinks, although he has a more dignified aura on account of being French. The programme was ostensibly an exploration of sustainable travel and environmental issues – there was talk of melting glaciers and the need to eat less meat – but that was a sideshow. It’s all about the banter, and D’Acampo is just giving ITV what they want.
