The shamed TV chef stole Paul’s £4,000 guitar collection…

Paul Young revealed last year that he’s seen TV chef Gino D’Acampo since he was jailed over the burglary of his London home and “everything’s alright” between them.

Prior to gaining fame as a celebrity chef – and years before claims of inappropriate behaviour were levelled at the cook – Gino was embroiled in another scandal.

At the time, he was a struggling 21-year-old waiter and he ended up going to jail after burgling Paul’s home. He made off with items including the singer’s £4,00 guitar collection, recordings featuring 69-year-old Paul’s now late wife Stacey’s voice and a platinum record.

Paul – who appears on Paul Young at the BBC this weekend (January 10) – got most of the stuff back, and said he believes in forgiveness. So much so that, last year, he revealed that he’s even spoken to Gino D’Acampo since the burglary…

Singer Paul Young said he’s bumped into Gino D’Acampo over the years

Paul Young on speaking to Gino D’Acampo

Singer Paul revealed in March 2025 that he has spoken to Gino since the burglary happened, and that “everything’s alright” between them.

“Sometimes I’d go to ITV to be on Good Morning Britain or something like that and someone said: ‘Gino D’Acampo’s here.’ But then I think they move people around so that we conveniently don’t bump into each. But I have done a couple of times. I’d go: ‘Oh, hi. How are you?’ Everything’s alright. I absolutely agree [with forgiveness],” he told the Mirror at the time.

Asked about Gino’s inappropriate behaviour scandal – which saw him accused of dozens of allegations of sexually inappropriate, aggressive and intimidating behavior on TV sets spanning a decade – Paul was reluctant to wade in. But surprisingly, he wished the TV chef – who denies the allegations – well.

Paul said: “I’ve only commented on it [the break-in] once, and that was on The Jeremy Vine Show shortly after it happened. You know, I wish him well. I hope he comes out of this okay. We all make mistakes in our life and I got most of what was stolen, I got most of it back.”

‘Mixed feelings’

Gino D’Acampo, now 49, served two years in prison for the burglary before turning his life around.

Speaking about the break-in back in 2018, the singer told The Mirror how Stacey’s death from brain cancer in January that year had brought back memories of the incident in 1998.

When asked how he felt about Gino, Paul said: “It’s hard to say really. I’ve got mixed feelings about it. When Stacey went there were certain bits of music I never got back. Let’s say that – and that hurt me.”

Paul added: “I try to keep a light-hearted attitude on that. He gets enough stick on social media – he doesn’t need my help as well.”

Gino called the burglary a serious mistake

Gino D’Acampo’s apology to Paul Young following burglary

The TV chef has previously discussed the incident, calling it a “serious mistake”.

In a past interview with TV Times, Gino spoke about how his time behind bars led him to change his life around and pursue his culinary dreams.

Gino said: “I didn’t use my best judgement and made a serious mistake. It was a dreadful experience, but in life I’ve learned to make good come out of everything. I thought, this is not going to drag me down, this is going to make me a better man.”

Gino also told Daily Mail in 2011: “If my example can encourage just one person in a prison cell that he can be a better man because of what has happened to him, I’d be happy.”

He added to Northern Echo in 2015: “Everybody has done something in the past and life moves on. I’m a great believer in telling my children about turning my life around and I work a lot with younger teenagers when they are in trouble.”

Paul previously said Gino had contacted him to apologise
Paul, meanwhile, has publicly said he forgives Gino for the incident, saying the chef had been in touch to apologise.

He told the Evening Standard in 2011: “I don’t hold it against him. He said it was bad and he apologised, and I did get most of the stuff back. Maybe he needed his wrist slapping and he got that. He said he was in a terrible place at that time and wanted to turn his life around.”