This Morning viewers have claimed to have worked out the reason for Gino D'Acampo's awkward comments after his return to the programme left hosts Holly Willoughby and Dermot O'Leary squirming.
The Italian chef was back in the ITV daytime show's kitchen on Tuesday (June 20) for double stint when he provided expected chaos. He was on hand to show viewers how to make his orange and pistachio tiramisu before returning later with some Italian cocktails.
But the Family Fortune host left co-hosts Holly, 42, and Dermot, 50, flustered when he asked whether he had missed "any news" over the past month during his time away. Introducing the celebrity chef, Dermot said: "It's been a while but Gino is finally allowed back in the This Morning kitchen."
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Gino replied: "I was in Italy for a month and I can't wait to cook for all of you." He continued: "Everything is under control, I'm back. Any news? Anything in the last month that I should know of?" seemingly referring to the fact that This Morning has been hitting the headlines following Phillip Schofield's exit from the show and from ITV.
Dermot sat with a pen in his mouth looking slightly uncomfortable while Holly laughed while sat beside him on the famous sofa. "No news," Holly said smiling, as Gino replied: "No news, OK, good. so we can go straight into the cooking..."
But it appears Gino may have made another hidden 'dig' when he complained that he wasn't whipping up what he originally planned. He said: "I was going to make melanzane alla parmigiana, with the aubergine. But apparently, I can't do anything with aubergine at the moment so I'm going to make a tiramisu."
It appeared to refer to the outburst from This Morning boss Martin Frizell earlier this month when he was quizzed about a ‘toxic’ work environment following Phillip Schofield’s shock departure from the programme and, a short time later, from ITV after he admitted to an "unwise but not illegal" relationship with a younger employee.
When being probed for his views on the fallout from the scandal, he dodged the question on toxicity in the workplace by telling Sky News: "What I've always found toxic is aubergine. Do you like aubergine? Do you? Do you like aubergine, because I don't? It's just a personal thing."
@I_amMukhtar tweeted alongside a clip of the moment: "Remember when that This Morning producer, was door stepped about Phillip Schofield and he kept dodging the question and just kept going on about how he hates aubergines." @LMW3WML added: "I've been waiting for Gino's return. They're regretting it already [aubergine emoji] #ThisMorning @thismorning."
The comments have since been addressed by ITV bosses after Dame Carolyn McCall faced questions from MPs last week. The chief executive of ITV faced questioning about the broadcaster’s approach to safeguarding and complaint handling alongside ITV managing director Kevin Lygo and general counsel and company secretary Kyla Mullins during the Culture, Media and Sport Committee session in Parliament.
The meeting saw Dame Carolyn start by telling MPs the "imbalance of power, the imbalance of dynamics" made the relationship between Schofield and 'person X' "deeply inappropriate", and ITV would have taken action, but no evidence of the relationship appeared during ongoing reviews.
During the quizzing during a Culture, Media and Sport Committee session in Parliament, Dame Carolyn branded comments from Mr Frizell as "foolish" after he referred to aubergines when asked about allegations of a "toxic" work environment on the programme.
"I think Martin has made a mistake, I think he knows he made a mistake, I don’t think he intended to say that. It was a foolish comment; an ill-advised comment, I absolutely agree," she said.
