Model Chloe Ayling: I was lured to Italy, drugged and bundled into a suitcase - but online trolls still say I made up my kidnap ordeal
Kidnapped model Chloe Ayling has revealed she still faces claims she invented her ordeal, ahead of a new BBC drama which she hopes will finally satisfy her doubters.
Despite her kidnappers being jailed for 16 years, she said online trolls attacking her story 'still goes on' seven years after the incident.
'I feel like there was no [acknowledgment] of what I went through. I was never praised for my bravery getting out of that situation. Instead, I always have to defend myself,' she said.
The new series, Kidnapped, follows the story of Chloe's 2017 ordeal in Milan, having travelled there for a photoshoot.
She was lured to Italy by Polish brothers Lukasz and Michal Herba and with the promise of modelling work – only to be drugged and kidnapped.
Kidnapped model Chloe Ayling says she still faces claims from online trolls that she made up her ordeal
Despite her kidnappers being jailed for 16 years, she says her story is still attacked seven years after the incident
Chloe lured to Italy to this mountain house in Borgial near Turin, by Polish brothers Lukasz and Michal Herba and with the promise of modelling work
After being injected with the horse tranquilliser ketamine and bundled into a suitcase at a Milan photo studio, she was taken to a farmhouse near Turin.
She was told she had been kidnapped by a group calling themselves Black Death, and that she would be sold as a sex slave in an online auction, at a starting price of €300,000 (£265,000).
The series follows her terrifying kidnap, her bravery in captivity and the court case that put her kidnappers behind bars.
'I know the truth and everyone who's looked into my story knows the truth,' said the glamour model.
'My friends get more worked up about it than I do. Mum's an emotional person... she's fallen out with almost everyone in her neighbourhood by defending me.'
Seven years after the horrifying ordeal, Chole said the online trolling still exists.
In an interview with The Times, she said: 'I saw people online judging if I was lying by analysing my body language in interviews. There’s a reason body language experts are not called to give evidence in court. So stupid.'
Chloe went on to say that unless there is concrete evidence, often victims of crime are not believed. She referred to the case of Jay Slater, the 19-year-old British boy who went missing in Tenerife, which inspired wild conspiracy theories.
'He wasn’t a model and he still got all that. Unless there’s concrete evidence like CCTV, victims are not believed,' Chloe added.
'The only way you can prove people wrong is to be found dead. Until then, people have free rein to say what they like.'
Chloe is hoping that the release of the BBC series will finally exonerate her after all this time.
Ms Ayling (pictured) signed an exclusive contract with the BBC although she is not taking part in the series dramatising her kidnap
Ms Ayling was stuffed in the holdall and put in the boot of this car during her kidnap in Milan
Pictured: An Italian police reconstruction of how Ms Ayling was bundled into canvas bag after being drugged
Chloe, who has since appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, was released after six days in captivity at a remote farmhouse in northern Italy. She previously gave her first full account of the ordeal to The Mail on Sunday in 2017.
Lukasz Herba handed her over to the British consulate after she tricked him that she would be his girlfriend if he let her go. Lukasz was later jailed for 16 years in Italy – he is due for release next year.
His brother Michal was also jailed for 16 years, later reduced to five on appeal. He was freed in 2022.
Speaking to The Times about the series, Chloe said: 'Seeing it gave me chills because it’s such a relief. People will see all the evidence against [the Herbas] laid out word for word, without bias.
'At the time everything was so focused on me and no one was interested in how the brothers were changing their story every second to completely contradictory ones.'
She told the newspaper that reliving the experience was not traumatic as she was focused on making sure it did justice to what she went through.
MailOnline previously reported it is unclear if the Herba brothers have been paid for the series, but strict editorial guideline prevents licence fee payers' money going to convicted criminals as it would be seen as profiteering from their illegal activities.
Lukasz Herba (pictured, on trial) is still behind bars after also being sentenced to 16 years in 2018 but this too was later cut by five years, and he is expected to be released early next year
Ms Ayling was kept in this isolated farmhouse near Turin for six days during her kidnapping
Mother of one Chloe later went onto star in Celebrity Big Brother, gave dozens of interviews and wrote a book about her ordeal (pictured, the model on on the reality show in 2018)
Chloe continued to post regularly provocative images on Instagram and run an Only Fans account until late last year. But in recent months Chloe has moved house and stopped posting any content.
Friends say she is trying to keep a low profile ahead of the dramatisation of her story so that she can capitalise on interview requests when it revives interest in her story.
Speaking about the series ahead of its release, she said: 'I am excited that BBC Studios are telling my story and that the wider world will get to know the truth about what happened o me and learn of the many details that weren't brought to light originally.'
The original trial of the two brothers in Milan raised eyebrows as they claimed it had been a 'publicity stunt' cooked up by Chloe in order to raise her profile.
Defence lawyer Katia Kolakowska described to the court how the kidnap had mirrored the plot of a 2016 film called By Any Means starring Booke Burfitt.
The plot revolves around a model who arranges her own kidnap to raise her profile and Lukasz claimed Chloe had been inspired by it.
The first official photo of Nadia Parkes (pictured) as kidnapped model Chloe Ayling has been released by the BBC ahead of the release of the six-part factual drama
For the first time, Chloe's story will be told in full, shining a light behind the headlines to reveal the 'emotional truth' of her harrowing ordeal (pictured Chloe Ayling in 2017)
Chloe Ayling wearing tight blue lycra sportswear stepping out at the BBC Studios in London on August 8
Pictured: The apartment building in the city of Szczecin where Herba lives with his mother after his jail sentence was slashed
During his trial Lukasz said he and Chloe met in 2015 and started a relationship and a few months later she suggested a 'fake kidnap' to help her bid for stardom.
Mum of one Chloe later went onto star in Celebrity Big Brother, gave dozens of interviews and wrote a book about her ordeal which saw her kept in an isolated farmhouse near Turin for six days.
She was eventually released after Lukasz drove her to the British consulate in Milan where he bizarrely waited for twenty minutes while Chloe told officials she had been kidnapped and policer were called.
Michal had his sentence reduced after appeal court judges ruled, he was not involved in 'extortion' and should have the word removed from his original conviction.
After being injected with horse tranquilliser Ketamine and bundled into a suitcase at a Milan photo studio, she was taken to a farmhouse near Turin in northern Italy
Chloe Ayling wearing tight blue lycra sportswear stepping out at the BBC Studios in London
The Chloe Ayling story will launch on Wednesday on BBC Three at 9pm
Chloe, a model from Coulsdon, south London, had told the court in Milan that she was drugged, gagged, bound, stuffed in the holdall and warned she would be sold as a sex slave if a £265,000 ransom wasn't met.
Chloe has always denied playing any part in the kidnap in order to boost her career and said she had faced 'lies and public scrutiny' telling the court she hadn't profited from her ordeal.
She told the court a man wearing a balaclava grabbed and drugged her during the ordeal.
And the model said rumours of her involvement had 'completely ruined' her reputation and said it was 'not my choice all this would go public'.
Suspicions of Chloe's alleged involvement in the kidnapping were raised when CCTV footage emerged of her holding hands with Lukasz shortly after her release.
When asked why she was shopping hand-in-hand with Lukasz instead of trying to escape, Chloe said she was 'completely brainwashed' into believing her life was in danger from the Black Death group.
Kidnapped, which was written by Killing Eve and Skins creator Georgia Lester, also stars Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Lindsay, Olive Gray and Eleonora Romandini
Nadia Parkes, 28 (pictured) as Chloe Ayling in the BBC series
In her evidence, Chloe said she knew he had feelings for her and claimed he was ‘sexually frustrated’ while sharing a bed with her in a remote farmhouse where she was held captive.
In his 2021 appeal judges ruled that ‘in the light of evidence it cannot be adequately demonstrated that Michal Herba was aware the kidnapping had extortion as a motive.’
Lukasz is currently serving his sentence at Pavia prison near Milan and he has a parole hearing schooled for later this year.
The BBC series brings her ordeal and court case together by drawing on legal documents, Chloe’s diary and interviews with lawyers, police and prosecutors.
Kidnapped, which was written by Killing Eve and Skins creator Georgia Lester, also stars Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Lindsay, Olive Gray and Eleonora Romandini.
Also in the cast are Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Lindsay, Julian Swiezewski and Olive Gray.
Nadia, 28, has previously starred in The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, The Spanish Princess and Domina.
Kidnapped will launch on Wednesday on BBC Three at 9pm.
