Melanie Sykes Slams TV Industry for ‘Creating Monsters’ and Takes Aim at Gino D’Acampo
Melanie Sykes has fiercely criticized the TV industry, accusing it of “creating monsters.” The former TV host and I’m a Celeb star condemned a controversial ITV show and hinted at an investigation involving celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo, her former co-host on Let’s Do Lunch with Gino and Mel.
In a recent YouTube video, Melanie called Celebrity Juice an “absolute abomination” and slammed its long-standing impact. “I wrote about it in my Frank magazine when I turned 50, saying it encourages men everywhere to talk to women like s**t,” she said, referring to the now-ended ITV show hosted by Keith Lemon.
Recalling her own experience, she added, “I had to sit through an entire show while a 500-strong audience laughed at atrocious things said to and about me. My toes were curling, I wanted to die, and I couldn’t leave. And when you support someone’s bad behavior, you create monsters. The industry creates them, then pretends it didn’t know. But you did know!”
Melanie, who grew up in Ashton-under-Lyne, stepped back from television after an unsettling experience with Gregg Wallace on Celebrity MasterChef. She stressed the dangers of unchecked behavior: “Your silence creates monsters. A boundary crossed ceases to be a boundary. If you’re paid to be outrageous in the name of entertainment, why would you think you need to stop?”
The presenter then alluded to Gino, amid reports that over 40 individuals have accused the former This Morning chef of inappropriate conduct.
“Years ago, there were rumblings about the presenter everyone’s talking about right now. They sent him to etiquette media training because ‘he’s Italian and doesn’t quite get it’—which is an insult to Italians. A ridiculous, narrow-minded response to workplace misconduct.”
Reflecting on her time working with Gino, she recalled: “He once told me he could just walk into the powers that be without a meeting, and he was quite pleased with himself for that.”
ITV has been contacted by The Mirror for comment.
