Television chef Gino D’Acampo has broken his silence after he was allegedly caught with cannabis in his luggage by airport sniffer dogs upon his return to the UK from Spain.
Gino had been in Spain filming with Gordon Ramsay and Fred Sirieix, it has been claimed.
Shortly after exiting Ramsay’s private jet at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, sniffer dogs allegedly began to circle the Italian chef.
A source claims that “Fred and Gordon were pretty cross”, after police pulled Gino, 46, over and cannabis was discovered in a small box inside his luggage.
It has been claimed that he was given a warning upon assuring officers the cannabis was for his own medicinal use, and that it was not intended for anyone else.
The incident occurred in November last year, it's claimed.
On Saturday, the TV star took to social media amid the claims as he shared a video to Instagram, but made no reference to the alleged incident.
Gino took to Instagram to comment on a now viral video of a couple at the gym which sees a boyfriend lifting his girlfriend into the air and doing presses while grabbing her derrière.
"This guy, he's working on his abs. Ohhhhh oh right. Okay. I'm going to guess that that lady is his wife," Gino quipped as he flinched and looked away from the viral video which has been doing the rounds on social media this week.
Gino's return to social media following the scandal comes after a source told The Sun that the sniffer dogs had come “out of nowhere” as soon as the trio had landed amid the drugs scandal.
They claimed: “Gordon, Fred and Gino were all held for some time by Border Force, as Gino initially tried to laugh it off.
“Eventually, it was clear who the dogs were after, and Gino went away with uniformed police for questioning. It was Gino’s bags that were stopped and searched, and a small box with some weed inside was found.
“Neither Fred nor Gordon, nor anyone else on the jet, had a single trace of anything suspicious.”
The source went on to claim that Gino had contacted Gordon and Fred the following day to let them know he had been released, and that he was using the drug to help with pain for a bad back.
They added how "both Fred and Gordon were obviously pretty cross" at being caught up in the drama - particularly chef Gordon, who has always been very vocally against drugs.
The star’s alleged airport bust reportedly occurred on November 29 last year, just weeks before Gino confirmed he would be quitting Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip.
Gino made the announcement he would be leaving the show after four series last month, reportedly blindsiding ITV bosses amid “stressful” contract talks.
He went on to say he didn’t want the discussions to ruin his friendship with co-stars Gordon, 56, and Frenchman Fred, 51,
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “The reason is simple — nothing to do with Gordon and Fred, the friendship is very strong. It’s just because we can’t get the dates together. When contracts start to get very complicated, then it becomes very stressful.”
The Mirror have contacted Gino D’Acampo's representatives for comment.
