‘I’ve never watched one of my shows!’

Gino D’Acampo has become a firm fixture on our screens – but you won’t catch him pressing record for one of his own TV programmes

Thanks to his enthusiastic and energetic personality, Italian chef Gino D’Acampo has won fans with his foodie travel series, where he rustles up tasty dishes while showing viewers his home country.

But his latest programme, Gino’s Italian Express, is a twist on the formula, as he’s exploring Italy by train.This is the

43-year-old’s latest TV project and his screen CV also includes This Morning, Celebrity Juice and Gordon, Gino

& Fred: Road Trip.

Gino also runs a string of restaurants in the UK and splits his time between Hertfordshire and Italy with his wife Jessica and their three children, Luciano,

17, Rocco, 15, and Mia, seven. We caught up with the star to chat about his latest TV venture, cooking at Christmas and why he’s always recognised at the urinals!

You have gone from riding a scooter to taking the train.Why?

I haven’t been on a train in about 15 to 20 years, so I thought,“Let’s do something different. Instead of me driving or scootering around, why don’t we get trains from one place to another?” We can see all the views from the trains. It was spectacular. What an experience!

You tackled your fear of heights by going on a train high up in the mountains. Have you conquered it now?

Not really. I hate heights. They took me to this place where

I was on the top of the Alps. That was high! I didn’t like that. I’ve

always been scared of heights.

It’s always hard to be away from home. The children miss you. But nowadays with FaceTime and texts, you can chat very easily. And my little girl Mia always writes me letters and leaves them in my suitcase. Sometimes I find a note that says, “I love you Daddy,” or, “I miss you Daddy.”

Where’s the strangest place someone has stopped to ask you for a photo?

I never get annoyed when people recognise me and ask for something, but I get annoyed when I’m in a public toilet. When you’re at the urinal, you’re all next to each other. I hate it when someone is trying to have a chat while I’m having a wee.Then they want to shake your hand. Let’s wash our hands first!

You work with Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix. What have you learnt about them?

We have a lot of

Do you miss your wife and kids when you’re on the road?

arguments along the way, but the reason the show works is because we’re all at the top of our careers and have a lot of respect for each other. Gordon’s clearly the alpha male and thinks he’s been there, done that and is the best at everything. Fred’s the more sensible one – the one that makes more sense than all three of us. And I’m the crazy one who they try to control, but it’s impossible.

If you could choose another celeb friend to work with, who would it be?

Phillip Schofield. I would make him do really extreme, weird, wonderful stuff.You name it, he’d do it. Like goat yoga, eating an animal testicle, or I would make him party for 48 hours nonstop to see if he could do it without sleeping.

What else is on your TV bucket list?

TFI Friday.

I would love to do the same kind of show in my restaurant. That’s a dream of mine.

You’ve had a 20-year career. What’s been your highlight?

My career changed when I did I’m A Celebrity. I won and something happened. I bonded with the British viewers and that was a big thing for me as far as my career is concerned.

Do you watch yourself back on TV?

No. Oh my God. I couldn’t do it. I don’t think I’ve ever watched one of my shows. First of all, I’ve been there, I’ve done it, so what’s the point in watching it? The other thing is, if you ever see yourself on video, you end up criticising yourself.You think,“I shouldn’t have done that!” or,“I shouldn’t have said this!”

How will you be celebrating Christmas this year?

I’ll be home in Sardinia with my family – no distraction, just in Italy eating a lot of seafood.

Are you in charge of cooking?

I’ll be baking sea bass in salt. I do that every year, as well as lots of clams, mussels and prawns. I don’t do much prep as Italians don’t have the veg or the turkey. One thing I will do is drink a lot of prosecco!