Gino D’Acampo celebrates his lookalike son Rocco’s 18th birthday with sweet throwback snaps

Gino D’Acampo celebrated his son’s 18th birthday with a selection of sweet throwback snaps on Tuesday.

The Italian TV chef, 46, sent his lookalike boy Rocco his well wishes to mark the milestone occasion via his Instagram page.

Gino and wife Jessica Stellina Morrison – who he married in 2002 – also have son Luciano, 20, and daughter Mia, nine. 

In one picture, the father-son duo appeared in good spirits as they smiled for a selfie on a boat.

Gino covered up with shades and a grey hat while the pair showcased their bronzed suntans.

Happy birthday, Rocco! Gino D’Acampo celebrated his son’s 18th birthday with a selection of sweet throwback snaps on Tuesday

Sweet: The Italian TV chef, 46, sent his lookalike boy Rocco his well wishes to mark the milestone occasion via his Instagram page while posting baby pictures

In one throwback snap, Gina shared a picture of his son as a young baby, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.

A third picture showed the pair behind-the-scenes filming Gino’s Italian Family Adventure in Napoli.

It comes after Gino recalled meeting his now wife Jessica when he was a 17-year-old chef and she was a waitress in a restaurant.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain while promoting his new dating show Cooking Up Love, the TV chef opened up about falling for Jessica, telling how they had ‘kissed for the first time in the meat fridge.’

However, the This Morning regular raised eyebrows as he spilled the beans on the couple taking their romance to the next level, telling how as an inexperienced teen, he was hoping to ‘get laid’ when she invited him to her house to cook.

The pair first locked eyes while working together at Sylvester Stallone’s Mambo King restaurant in Marbella. 

Detailing how their romance blossomed, he explained: ‘I used to be the chef in the restaurant and my wife was the waiter. We used to meet in the meat fridge.’ 

As hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard began giggling, telling the chef, ‘that’s going to put a dampener on things!’ Gino was quick to insist: ‘don’t go there!’ 

He continued to explain: ‘I used to put my meat and chicken in there and she would put the butter to serve to the customers in the fridge.

‘So you know… you meet once, you meet twice, you meet three times and that’s it, it happened in the meat fridge. We kissed for the first time in the meat fridge. Surrounded by pork loins, beef chicken wings and all stuff like that!’

Memories: A third snap showed the pair behind-the-scenes filming Gino’s Italian Family Adventure in Napoli

Delving further into their romance, Susanna then asked: ‘Who cooked for who first?’ to which the chef recalled how he and Jessica cemented their relationship.

Gino told her: ‘What time is it? I’m going to try and not get in trouble here. 

‘When I met my wife, I never had any experience with any other women because I was only 17. 

‘She had amazing blonde hair and huge…personality. And after a few weeks she showed me something I had never had before.

‘So I got there and basically all I was thinking was “Am I going to get laid?” Am I allowed to say that? Or I’ll say make love, is that better? But anyway, yeah she invited me over and cooked for me.’

Ben and Susanna began laughing at his anecdote and tried to keep talking about cooking by asking what meal she made.

Speaking about his marriage in 2020, Gino said his wife Jessica is not ‘jealous’ of him being ‘surrounded by women’ and believes that if he wanted to be ‘unfaithful’ he would ‘do it anyway’. 

The TV chef revealed he employs ‘more than 700 women’ in his restaurants and prefers the company of females because they are ‘more interesting than men’.

However Gino said his marriage to Jessica works on a ‘matter of trust’ and he was given ‘a lot of freedom’ from ‘day one’.

Speaking to the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, Gino said: ‘When I met my wife I realised she was an extremely generous, clever woman.

Family: Gino and wife Jessica Stellina Morrison – who he married in 2002 – also have son Luciano, 20, and daughter Mia, nine (L-R Rocco, Mia, Jessica, Luciano and Gino)

In the beginning: Gino and his wife Jessica have been happily married since 2002

‘My friends’ girlfriends stopped them doing things, but from day one Jessica gave me a lot of freedom.

‘If you try to cage men it won’t work. I can do pretty much what I want. If I say, “I’m taking friends out” she doesn’t say, “But you’ve been away for the past week”. There’s no point having a man around if he doesn’t want to be there.’

He continued: ‘I employ more than 700 women in my restaurants. In TV, I’m surrounded by women. I love it. Women are more interesting than men, but my wife loves it too.

‘She doesn’t get jealous. She understands that if you want to be unfaithful, you’ll do it anyway. It’s a matter of trust.’

Gino D’Acampo celebrates his lookalike son Rocco’s 18th birthday with sweet throwback snaps
Source: Viral Buzz Philippines