GINO D’Acampo nearly came face-to-face with the singer whose house he robbed as a young man at ITV’s studios today.
The 45-year-old chef was on This Morning while 80s pop legend Paul Young was getting ready to appear on Loose Women.
Both shows are filmed in neighbouring studios at Television Centre in west London, where ITV’s live daytime shows are based.
And many fans reckoned the pair could easily run into one another backstage – with one tweeting: “Are ITV looking for the Oscars round 2?”
Another suggested there had been a balls-up, tweeting: “Did Gino not burgle Paul’s house in the 90s and go to jail as a consequence? Either a terrible or amazing booking team, I can’t decide.”
The successful chef was 21 when he raided Paul’s family home and stole a number of items, including his £4,000 guitar collection.
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Gino was caught after his DNA matched tests on cigarette butts he had dropped in Paul and wife Stacey’s London home.
He was sentenced to two years in jail for the crime and has since expressed his remorse for his actions.
Pop-rock legend Paul has previously said he’s forgiven Gino, who was a young unknown waiter at the time.
He said: “He gets enough stick on social networking – he doesn’t need my help as well.”
Indeed, many people pointed out the unfortunate combination of guests accidentally cooked up by ITV‘s bookers.
One viewer wrote, after the singer’s forthcoming appearance was announced: “Did I just hear Paul Young was on loose women whilst Gino is waving manically at the camera.”
Another posted later: “Here’s Paul Young, has Gino left the building yet from being on This Morning earlier?
“Does Gino know Paul Young is next door in the #loosewomen studio?”
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A third posted: “So, Gino’s in the kitchen today and Paul Young is on #loosewomen, in the studio next door.
“Perhaps they’re hoping for a Smith/Rock type of situation occurring.”
Another made a similar quip, writing: “So Gino is on the @thismorning studio and Paul Young is in @loosewomen. Are @ITV looking for the Oscars round 2.”
Paul told the Evening Standard in 2011 that Gino had contacted him to personally apologise before he went on I’m A Celebrity.
He said: “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.”
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Gino, who is now a hugely successful telly host and chef, announced on TV today that he was moving back to Italy.
He said: “I’m going to go to Italy very soon in the next couple of days. So this is my last This Morning.”
However, he added that he was likely to be returning in either the autumn or winter of 2022.
