Former Doctor Who actor John Barrowman has claimed he ‘went through the same thing’ that Gino D’Acampo is currently facing.
This Morning star D’Acampo, 48, is facing allegations from dozens of people who have worked with him over a 12-year period on various programmes, which he has ‘firmly denied’ saying they are ‘deeply upsetting’.
There have been complaints of sexually inappropriate comments and alleged bullying, described by some people as ‘unacceptable,’ ‘distressing’ and ‘horrendous’.
Dancing on Ice star Barrowman has now likened his own experiences in the industry to D’Acampo’s.
The 57-year-old has largely remained away from TV appearances, aside from a brief stint on SAS: Who Dares Wins last year, after he admitted to exposing himself to colleagues on the sets of BBC shows Doctor Who and Torchwood.
In 2021, a resurfaced video showed his co-star Noel Clarke – who has also faced allegations of sexual misconduct – making jokes about Barrowman exposing his penis ‘every five seconds’ and ‘hitting it on everything’.
He later said that he was ‘made out’ to look like ‘a sexual deviant’, admitting he had done ‘stupid things and silly things’.
In a new interview, Barrowman has spoken about staying out of the limelight, saying: ‘Nothing lies ahead for me on television because at the moment…. because of all the c**p that was said about me which is not true … they kind of turned their back on me.’
He went on to The Mirror: ‘It’s the same thing to do with Gino D’Acampo at the moment which is unfortunate because they’re the ones who…. the TV shows…. and I use this as an example.. like the one where he’s on the TV show and he’s standing there cooking in an apron but he’s naked.
‘Now he didn’t decide to do that. Production asked him to do it. So they’re sexualizing him in the same way as when I was on camera and they would do something like “You gotta be naked. You’ve got to do this.”
‘So we then feel that there’s an atmosphere of “Let’s have a laugh and let’s have fun”. So then when it comes out that we’ve had a laugh, they all go “Oh my God. We’re not on with this!”
‘This is hypocrisy basically. It’s kind of the same thing that I went through.’
Barrowman spoke about the flashing controversy on SAS: Who Dares Wins last year, saying: ‘The press made the allegation that I was going around putting my d*** on everybody’s shoulders.
‘Having that happen to me ruined me, but this course is going to help me push through this and I want people to see the kind of person that I really am.’
He later added: ‘On Doctor Who and Torchwood, I had to do a lot of nude scenes. If I were being stupid, I would do something stupid.
‘I would shake and waggle or I might do a scene where I might have one of my bollocks hanging out.
‘The press made it out that I was a sexual deviant. We’ve all done stupid things and silly things, but what’s been said about me will never go away now.’
He elsewhere shared how heavily he was impacted when he believed he’d been ‘cancelled’ because of the allegations, saying: ‘I had thoughts of suicide, going out and trying to do certain things and harm myself, and a couple of times debating how I was going to kill myself.’
D’Acampo is best known for appearing on shows including This Morning, Let’s Do Lunch and Gino’s Italian Escape.
Since 2018 he’s also fronted Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip alongside Fred and Gordon Ramsay, which follows the trio visiting various countries and cities and exploring local culture and cuisine.
It was reported in December that he was ‘slowly being sidelined’ by ITV after allegedly facing a string of inappropriate behaviour claims made against him.
Following the allegations, ITV said in a statement: ‘All of the concerns and complaints raised by those who have spoken to ITN describe behaviour which is inappropriate and unacceptable. Most of them were not reported to ITV at the time. Where issues have been raised with ITV action has been taken.’
D’Acampo has responded to the full claims with a statement: ‘I have been told by ITN news that allegations have been made about me acting inappropriately, some dating back over ten years ago.
‘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 am a father, husband and have worked with well over 1,500 people on around 80 productions in my career, which I have been so proud of. I take such matters extremely seriously and the suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.’
ITV added in a statement: ‘ITV has made our position very clear. Our promise to those we work with is that where a complaint is made to ITV or serious concerns raised, we will look into it, and if we find that something inappropriate has happened, we will take action.’
Metro has approached ITV for comment.
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