Kidnapped model Chloe Ayling hopes new TV drama of her ordeal will stop doubters

A British model who hit the headlines after she was kidnapped in Italy in 2017 said she hopes a new drama based on her ordeal will encourage people not to doubt victims.

Chloe Ayling was kidnapped after arriving at an address in Milan, Italy, for a modelling job, having been lured into a fake photoshoot, and was released just days later.

Two men were jailed for Ms Ayling's kidnap, but she was accused of faking her ordeal and of being involved in a "publicity stunt". These accusations are still being made online today.

Ms Ayling hopes a new six-part drama based on her ordeal will encourage people to "keep an open mind before jumping to conclusions".

The BBC series, Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, is based on her kidnapping and time in captivity, as well as the subsequent court case that put the perpetrators in prison.

“I hope it encourages people not to doubt victims based on the way they react to a traumatic experience, based on the way they dress, their job or what they did to survive," Ms Ayling said ahead of the launch of the series.

“I hope it encourages people to look deeper than headlines, not to judge a situation or story based on what you read, not to be so easily influenced by media and to keep an open mind before jumping to conclusions,” she added.

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Ms Ayling, aged 20 at the time, was drugged, bundled into a suitcase and abducted after arriving at a Milan address for a modelling job. She was held in a farmhouse near Turin while a 300,000 euro (£265,000) ransom was demanded.

She was released six days later at the British Consulate in Milan.

Polish national Lukasz Herba and his brother, Michal Herba, were subsequently jailed for 16 years and nine months after an Italian court convicted them of kidnapping Ms Ayling.

"I feared for my life second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour," Ms Ayling said in a press conference in 2017 following the kidnapping.

Ms Ayling hopes the new drama will allow the public to view the story from her perspective as she feels many key aspects were not fully revealed at the time, including some details about the court case.

“It’s important for me that people can now see all of those key details based on years of extensive research and not a warped version of the truth,” she said.

Ms Ayling opened up about her kidnapping after entering the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2018 where she discussed how she tried to convince her captor to let her go.

“He made it out to me it was a massive organisation and he wanted to save me but he couldn’t because there were so many people behind it," Ms Ayling told US reality star Natalie Nunn.

“That was what was scaring me. I thought there was so many people behind this and I had to pay the money otherwise I’m going to die."

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