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Gino D’Acampo has said a drunken joke he made during a Celebrity Juice appearance ended up costing him £20,000.
The celebrity chef, 48, was coaxed into changing his name to Sheffield when he was the team captain on Leigh Francis‘ panel show on ITV2.
Gino admitted he agreed to the name change because he was drunk, but it ultimately cost him a significant amount in legal fees due to complications with travel documents.
The star said: ‘I was not in a mind state which was normal, and I Iost the bet. I just said it like that, “Yeah, yeah, whatever”, not thinking that those idiots would bring me the piece of paper for me to sign and send it off.
‘So I had a nightmare for two, three years of passports, American visas.’
He shared his late mother was shocked when she discovered he had included the name of an English city in his full name.
Gino D’Acampo has revealed that a drunken joke he made during on Celebrity Juice ended up costing him £20,000
The 48-year-old celebrity chef was coaxed into changing his name to Sheffield when he was the team captain on Leigh Francis ‘ panel show on ITV2 (pictured on Celebrity Juice)
Gino continued: ‘When she found out that my name was not a beautiful Italian name any more, but was Gino Sheffield D’Acampo, oh my God.’
Asked on the White Wine Question Time podcast if it was like having a tattoo, he replied: ‘Worse than that, a tattoo, you can cover it.
‘I’ve got nothing against Sheffield or the people of Sheffield, but for a true Italian to have Sheffield in the middle of his name. We had to have it removed for an American visa.
‘How am I going to explain to the American people I was drunk. They couldn’t get their heads around why would I put that in two Italian names. So for them it was a bit dodgy.
‘So I went to the lawyers and the lawyer said “do everybody a favour, can we please go back to your real name”. This is how it happened, but six, seven years later.’
Asked if it proved costly to rectify, the Gino’s Italian Escape star, said: ‘I would say knowing how much does it cost legal, with visas and stuff like that, about 20 grand, easy.
‘But you know what, I wouldn’t change. I have no regrets in my life. So I would do it again.’
He admitted he agreed to the name change because he was drunk, but it ultimately cost him a significant amount in legal fees due to complications with travel documents
He shared that his late mother was shocked when she discovered he had included the name of an English city in his full name (pictured)
The flamboyant Italian cook divides his time between homes in the United Kingdom and his native Italy with Jessica and their three children, Luciano, 22, Rocco, 19, and Mia, 12.
But he said his time away from work is carefully balanced so he can be alone – something he claims helps strengthen his 24-year marriage.
He told heat: ‘I think it’s not only important to spend quality time with my family, but I also strongly believe in spending time alone. You discover new things about yourself and you have time to think, which is something that people don’t do often enough.
‘Everybody’s always so busy and alone time is super-important for my marriage.’
He added: ‘Jessica and I have been together for 31 years, we have three children, and we never have problems, because we have our own lives away from one another.’
The chef met his wife as a teenage, while working at Sylvester Stallone’s Mambo King restaurant in Marbella – where he served as Head Chef.
Elsewhere, Gino admitted he and wife Jessica have their own lives and often spend time apart during their free time (pictured with their three children, Luciano, 22, Rocco, 19, and Mia, 12)
They married in 2002 and renewed their vows in 2021, but the Italian star refutes the idea that time spent apart could lead to affairs.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, he explained: ‘You need to balance your married life with your “single life”‘.
‘I can be away for a month and I will talk to my wife once a week for about 20 minutes. Then, when I come back, we can talk about it all.’
The TV chef confessed he doesn’t understand what some of his friends talk to their wives about when they are chatting on the phone for over an hour as he chooses to keep his phone calls with Jessica short and sweet.
Gino also admitted he will go out for dinner and drinks with other women while he is on one of his solo holidays.
He said: ‘Do you think that if I wanted to be unfaithful to my wife, I’d need to organise a holiday? I can do it anytime and anywhere. So once you get that out of your head, going on holiday alone doesn’t matter.’
He previously opened up about how he met his wife in an interview on Good Morning Britain in 2022.
He revealed: ‘When I met my wife, I never had any experience with any other women because I was only 17. She had amazing blonde hair and huge… personality. And after a few weeks she showed me something I had never had before.
‘So I got there and basically all I was thinking was “Am I going to get laid?”
‘Am I allowed to say that? Or I’ll say make love, is that better? But anyway, yeah she invited me over and cooked for me.’