A “King of the Jungle” he may be, but make no mistake, celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo’s true domain is in the kitchen.

The 35-year-old emerged as the winner of ITV’s reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here in 2009, having sampled some of the less salubrious delicacies that the southern hemisphere has to offer and he admits he’s unsure whether the experience has improved his palette in any way.

What is certain, however, is that after several weeks away from the rich array of culinary delights to which he had become accustomed, the show made him proud of what UK fresh food producers bring to the table.

“Going on I’m A Celebrity… was a great experience and a fantastic thing to win, obviously,” he tells FPJ. “As a chef working mostly on daytime TV, being in the jungle brought me to a whole new audience and as a result I’m busier now than ever. But food is my passion and I missed it terribly - talking about it, buying it, cooking it.

“Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to recover or to get back into the swing of things. I suppose one of the most important things I learnt from the experience was that life goes on without me - my family, my business; they could all carry on without me being there. It was a big lesson for me.

“If I’m honest, I am a control freak and I knew it would be really hard for me to be in the jungle for weeks. I suppose that was part of the attraction of it.”

However liberating that feeling of relinquishing control, D’Acampo hasn’t felt the need to let go again since, particularly given that his business empire has recently branched out into import and export in the form of Bontá Italia. Indeed, the Italian’s schedule is now more tightly packed than ever before, especially with the launch of a new range of pastas and oils, along with his own iPhone app.

“Things have gone well recently,” he continues. “Bontá Italia is growing and is building a strong reputation for supplying quality Italian ingredients. We have a dedicated team who make sure that we always do our best to introduce products at the right time and the right price.

“And I’m over the moon with how my pasta range has been received. I didn’t want to go crazy with it and churn out loads of products - my thinking behind it was to launch gradually and responsibly.

“It is very important to me that we came up with a range that is the best you can get. After all, it has got my name on it! And I am always working to refresh the recipes and think of new fillings, but I will only do it when it’s right. It has to be right!”

At the heart of his projects is a perfect combination of market research, food knowledge and service - standards and qualities that D’Acampo believes should be dear to anyone in the industry.

Such perfection no doubt comes from an upbringing surrounded by food. He entered the famous Luigi de Medici Catering College at the age of 15, having been inspired by his grandfather’s cooking. And after developing his skills in kitchens around Europe, D’Acampo came to England at the age of 20.

“Food isn’t a job to me, it is a lifestyle and a belief and has been for as long as I can remember,” he says. “I can’t say if I was a stereotypical child but fresh, honest food was always a most important thing where we grew up in Torre del Greco, Napoli. I lived with my parents and my sister, at one point on a farm, and we had big family parties where all my female relatives would get together to cook traditional Italian food. We had the ingredients all around us, so we’d always cook with expression and excitement. I learned early on that the simple things in life - fresh air, food, family, love - are the best.

“And I still carry those sentiments forward,” he continues. “I often say that people should cook from the heart. And you should only cook when you’re happy - it really makes a difference to be in a frame of mind to enjoy what you are doing. People should also never be afraid to try new things. You’ll be surprised and delighted at what you can achieve, and the choice has never been greater.

“I want to show people it really is very easy to make the most fantastic dishes using simple ingredients.”

And at the heart of that are the age-old standards of fresh produce, organic delivery and a desire for excellence. But does such heartiness really sit properly with, arguably, one of the industry’s first pin-up chefs and someone so behind the idea of food as a social statement?

“I think there is a lot of style in food and the use of food, but this isn’t to say we are talking about fashion,” says D’Acampo. “There are trends and fads when it comes to fresh produce, just as there are in any other aspect of cuisine, but the one that always remains is an awareness and a desire for seasonality. That is crucial.

“I always believe in using what’s in season as this is when it will be most flavoursome and at its best - it’s common sense, but is only something we’re coming back round to in the past few years. At the heart of the iPhone app was the idea of seasonality at its best. I think if you read the signs and follow what is current, you can’t go far wrong.”

For D’Acampo, the coming year brings with it the challenge of new TV shows and continued hard work in establishing his food range. And he admits, in the same breath, that he wants to take some more time off, although forested areas seem strictly out of bounds.

“I love to talk about fresh food, and love to share my knowledge and experience. To me it is a love affair.”

Although if he has learnt anything from the jungle, it is to retain at least a small sense of privacy - the language of love really does burn strong in this Italian - providing, that is, you don’t ask him what he would recommend as his best food aphrodisiac.

He laughs. “Now that is something that will remain a secret!”