You'll never see an Italian go on a diet.

Everybody in Italy cooks. They have a better knowledge of the kitchen - that's the place around which the whole of Italian society revolves.

When I was eight years old, my mum and dad took me skiing in Valle d'Aosta in northern Italy. I'm not usually a huge fan of snow or cold places, but I loved the fact that we were together as a family.

Every summer I sail to a small island called Cavallo, which lies between Sardinia and Corsica.

I spent a week of my honeymoon on a cruise ship and it was a nightmare. Never again.

Italy is a hot country. Wherever you feel heat, your excitement and passion come out. We're hot-blooded, and where there's passion there's love, but also anger, hunger, excitement.

My wife often goes out with male friends for dinner and I go out with female friends. We have different holidays. We're together six months of the year and when we're together, we're together.

One thing we don't have in Italy is the culture of Chinese, Indian, French and Thai food.

I don't like lakes generally. It's a glorified pond, isn't it? I live by the sea, so for me I need to taste salt. I prefer the mystery, the majesty of the sea.

The best place to go in Italy for a summer holiday is the island of Sardinia.

Always buy dry pasta, not fresh. 90 percent of Italians use dried pasta as it keeps its al dente shape more perfectly when cooked.

People panic in the kitchen and they don't need to. The first thing to do is to open a nice bottle of wine and relax.

Italian wines don't have to be expensive to be good. It is absolutely ridiculous that people feel that have to spend a fortune.

I get asked for cooking tips all the time.

Since I turned 40, my ambition is to spend more time with my family.

There is no way on Earth I'm going to get a call from 'Bake Off!' It is a British institution. People sit down to watch it with a cup of tea. The last thing they want is Gino D'Acampo!

But my wife doesn't often allow me to cook in our kitchen at home. She says that I'm messy and I don't clean up after myself!

I can cook in front of millions of people on TV, I don't care. But cooking for my own family really freaked me out. If they don't like it, they tell you.

A key rule for every cook should be not to buy food when it's out of season because it's expensive and tastes awful.

I never tried to convince my wife to move to Italy. She wouldn't have liked that.

I think every lady wishes their husband would cook.

My mum and dad weren't wealthy people. We used to have pasta every day, meat once a week, fish was once every two weeks, presents only at Christmas and birthday.

We don't do spaghetti and Bolognese sauce together in Italy. That is technically wrong because when you lift up the spaghetti the sauce will just run down. The way to do it is to use pasta like fettuccine or tagliatelle so the sauce sticks to it.

As far as Italian ingredients, I always have one of those plants of fresh basil in the house, and some mozzarella in the fridge.

A lot of food shows are people wanting to become celebrities, rather than encouraging people to cook.

I don't do cookery shows to show off, I do it to encourage people. What's the point in going on TV and doing a recipe that no one can replicate?

A lot of people believe Italian food is tasty because there are a lot of ingredients. But they don't understand that the reason why it's tasty is because there are less ingredients than in any other cuisine.

I tell everybody that you haven't lived a good life if you haven't made a mistake.

I have a nap every afternoon like a little boy. Or an old man. Depending on how you look at it.

If I'm feeling nostalgic, the first thing I do is open a packet of spaghetti, olive oil in a pan, garlic, a little bit of chili, a sprinkle of fresh parsley, and that's it. It reminds me of my mum.

Venice is incredible. Although you may have seen it in pictures, you can't grasp how beautiful it is until you visit.

Rome is the capital of Europe; it's as simple as that. You need to see what the Romans did 2,000 years ago. They were so advanced compared to the rest of the world. They showed us how to make roads, toilet seats, how to do irrigation, and more. When you see the Colosseum you won't believe it was built so long ago.

People should always have a good bottle of extra virgin olive oil, a packet of pasta, tinned tomatoes and a good cheese somewhere in their fridge.

The problem many people have with Italian food is they over-complicate it. Italian food is extremely simple.

I'm the king of napping. I can nap and I snore. Then I wake up, go to the toilet, wash my face, have a coffee and it's like a brand new day.

When I decide something, I have to do something to make it happen.

I'd love everyone to try authentic Italian food.

I had wanted to be a dentist, but ended up being a chef. I think I've always had a fascination for jobs that have white jackets.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be with me in the pub or a club, just watch 'Celebrity Juice.'

In the D'Acampo family we have pancakes with banana and chocolate sauce for breakfast every Sunday, no matter what.

If you want to go for a romantic break, or a quick break in Italy, it has to be Venice.

Very few Italian restaurants in Britain do a good job. They're too scared to show you what real Italian food is like because they think you can't handle it, so they dilute it.

Hearing other celebrities moaning about the bad things about being famous - there is no worst thing. If you don't want to be famous, just stop it and go and be a doctor or a teacher.

I always go back to Italy for holidays because I live half my life on the island of Sardinia.

I think if you're a good person and you show that you learned from all the mistakes that you made you move on with your life. Everybody will accept that. Only an idiot will not accept that or keep reminding you of it and keep pointing that finger.

I understood food from a very early age. I understood the combination of ingredients very early.

Italian people are so proud to show off. A little bit too much, I have to say. Wherever you go, they prepare a buffet and they get offended if you don't try things.

The only way you could replicate the way I grew up, with no access to supermarkets or petrol stations, would be to live on a farm in the middle of Wales.

I like Chinese and Indian food, but only every couple of weeks.

I think it's a good thing that I eat well. Don't get me wrong, I go for fish and chips sometimes or the odd kebab, but you need more healthy food than bad.