THIS Morning chef Gino D’Acampo has spoken out about his 22-year marriage - admitting he sometimes lives "the single life".
The Italian says the secret to staying together is time apart and only speaking to his wife Jessica for "20 mins a day" while he's away.
Gino, 47, even goes on solo holidays without his family - but has shot down any claims that spending time apart could lead to affairs.
"You need to balance your married life with your ‘single life’,” says
“There is a time where the family is together, when I’m with my wife and everybody to celebrate holidays and everything like that.
"But there has to also be a time when I do things by myself and when she does things by herself.
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“I can be away for a month and I will talk to my wife once a week for about 20 minutes. Then, when I come back, we can talk about it all.
"Some of my friends talk with their wives for an hour and I'm thinking, 'What the hell are you going to say to your wife every day for an hour that you can't say when you're in person?'"
Gino also says he spends time with other females alone - taking them out for dinner and drinks.
He added: “Do you think that if I wanted to be unfaithful to my wife, I’d need to organise a holiday?
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“I can do it anytime and anywhere. So once you get that out of your head, going on holiday alone doesn’t matter.”
Gino met Jessica when he was 18 and working at Mambo King restaurant in Marbella, where she was a waitress.
They married seven years later in 2002, but renewed their vows in 2021 on their anniversary.
The couple share three children together, Luciano, 21, Rocco, 19, and Mia, 11.
Gino was a regular on This Morning when it was fronted by pals Holy Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, but until recently hadn't been seen on it in months.
After a lengthy period away, he returned to the show this week and has promised that his long-standing relationship with it will continue.
He said: "Of course – This Morning is my home! I know Ben [Shephard] and Cat [Deeley] very well and whenever I have the chance I will always return. I also just finished filming in Tuscany with This Morning, and it was loads of fun."
Gino is currently using his profile as a celebrity chef to promote a campaign to help cut back on the 8.2million baskets of food - or 60,000 tonnes - that are wasted annually in the UK.
Though he's worked in the food industry for decades, Gino was shocked to learn that the equivalent of £1,000 of food per household was being squandered every year.
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He now wants to educate people on how they can reduce waste and save money at the same time.
"It’s so easy to shop without thinking," he said. "If your dish only needs three carrots then buy three carrots! Choose what you’ll use, don’t just buy a big bag that will probably go to waste."