Gino D’Acampo reveals the 10 biggest moments of his life

GINO D’ACAMPO has become one of Britain’s most popular celebrity chefs.

He shot to fame as the resident chef on ITV’s This Morning and also hosted Let’s Do Lunch, alongside Melanie Sykes.

His Gino’s Italian Escape has been a big hit and a new series just started earlier this month.

He meets the locals, chooses ingredients and cooks up some delicious fare in Gino’s Italian Escape: Islands in the Sun on ITV, Fridays at 8pm.

Gino and his wife Jessica have three kids.

Here, Gino tells us the 10 big moments in his life. KITCHEN DEBUTI was 12 when I first entered a professional kitchen at my grandfather’s restaurant in Naples.

It was a huge kitchen and I was just a little boy thinking I’d never be able to do this.

People were shouting and it seemed hot and dangerous with lots of knives but by the second day I’d fallen in love with it and knew that was what I wanted to do.

Eventually I cooked with my grandfather but initially it was just a lot of washing pans and peeling potatoes. SCOOTER BOYWhen I was 14 my father bought me my first scooter.

It was just a 50cc Vespa but I thought I was king of the world.

It gave me the freedom to do what I wanted and I thought it looked so cool.

I used to pick up my girlfriend at the time and take her to the beach or to get ice creams.

It was a great way to impress her!

Gino in the kitchenHARDEST LOSSI lost my grandfather when I was 16. He was only 60, which is so young.

I recall it so, so vividly.

My father who actually died a couple of years ago when he was also 60 was absolutely shattered.

It was the first time I’d ever lost someone close and my first realisation that death comes to everyone and you never know what is round the corner. NEW HORIZONSI had never even been on a plane before I came to Britain when I was 17.

I was at catering college and they sent me to Guildford in Surrey to study.

I’d never been abroad, so I had to learn a new culture and language and it was wonderful.

I’d always worked in Italian restaurants and been trained by Italian chefs, so adjusting to a new palate helped my cooking so much. LOVE OF MY LIFEI met my wife Jessica 20 years ago when we were working in the same restaurant in Puerto Banus in Spain.

She was waiting and I was the chef and we spent the first few weeks arguing.

It certainly wasn’t love at first sight. But after about a month we fell in love with each other.

I still remember our first kiss it was in the restaurant’s meat fridge!

I went in to sort out the beef, she went in to get some drinks stored there and we sealed our love with a very cold kiss.

I’d act as her personal chef, cooking her chicken with cream and Marsala wine, which was her favourite dish. BABY LOVEThe birth of my first son Luciano was unforgettable.

I was there to cut the umbilical cord and it was a magical moment.

You suddenly realise that this little person, another human being, is yours.

I embraced fatherhood and was never scared of being a dad.

I have another son, Rocco, and a daughter Mia.

Every man dreams of having a daughter, and coming after two boys, she was so special.

Gino was crowned king of the jungle in 2009 JUNGLE FEVERI went into the jungle for I’m A Celebrity thinking it’d be a bit of a break away from my work.

Never in a million years did I think I’d win it.

That year, 2009, we had a really close group with people like Jimmy White, Colin and Justin and Katie Price.

There wasn’t a lot of drama and shouting and only the heat and boredom, not the bushtucker trials, bothered me.

My boys were very young and they asked me to win because if I was king of the jungle then that would make them princes.

So when it got to the final two I was hoping I could make that dream come true for them.SCREEN APPEALMy first TV appearance was about 12 years ago on Good Food Live on UKTV Food.

I cooked a pasta dish and I remember looking round at the cameras and realising I wasn’t scared at all.

People said I’d be nervous but I wasn’t worried about anything.

Right from that moment I thought TV was something I should pursue.

Doing Gino’s Italian Escape has been a real highlight because it was my own prime time programme showing off my beautiful home country.AUTHOR, AUTHORI’m on book number 13 now and I’ve written them all myself.

But my first, Fantastico, was such a highlight.

I don’t read anything books, magazines, anything at all.

So I never thought I’d ever be able to do my own book.

I remember getting all misty-eyed when I held the first copy in my hand.

I thought back to coming into this country knowing nothing and for people to read something I’d written was magical.

BRANCHING OUTI’ve just launched a chain called My Pasta Bar.

I’ve run restaurants for other people before and ran kitchens, but I’ve never had my own restaurants.

My first one was in Fleet Street in London and when it opened its doors I cried like a little boy.

It will always be close to my heart.

As a chef, to be able to have your own restaurant where you can show off your recipes and where people come and pay to eat your food is what it’s all about.

Standing outside and seeing my name on the sign was like seeing it in lights at the theatre or a cinema.

It was just the coolest thing ever.