August 12, 2024 — Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story is based on the true story of Chloe Ayling’s abduction in Italy in 2017, when she travelled there for a photoshoot.

INTERVIEW WITH CHLOE AYLING

Tell us about what happened to you in 2017 and what the series is about.

In 2017 I was booked for a model shoot in Italy by my agent at the time. But it turned out it wasn’t a shoot, it was a set-up. As I walked into the studio, two masked men came from behind me in balaclavas, injected me with ketamine and I was immediately knocked out and taken to a remote farmhouse hours away from Milan. I woke up during the transportation in a duffle bag in the boot of car, gagged and handcuffed and was held captive for six days. Upon arrival at the farmhouse, I was told I was kidnapped for sex trafficking.

Why did you want this factual drama to be made?

I wanted this factual drama to be made because a lot of things were not covered by the media at the time. Key features and parts of the story were missed out, and the drama shines light on those things. All of the facts are what I wanted people to know and be aware of at the time, so I’m really pleased that the series includes them. It’s also good to see it visually, I’m a very visual person, so to see it on the screen is different from just reading it and you actually get to kind of feel like you’re experiencing it as well.

It’s a very complex story so to be able to see things from my perspective at the time and to understand how I was brainwashed by Łukasz Herba is key to fully understanding the story.

Did you work closely with writer Georgia Lester?

I had video calls and face to face meetings with Georgia, the writer. It was really in-depth and we talked about things dating back to childhood that are not even in the drama just to help her understand things more.

I have seen the series a couple of times now. I think it’s a really, really good series and gives a great insight into what happened, how it happened, how long everything dragged on for and how I was wrongly treated. It even taught me a couple of things I didn’t know from the court transcripts.

What are the things that people didn’t know about that you are particularly pleased to have included in the drama?

The number one thing is the large amount of evidence in court and how Łukasz Herba was constantly changing his story and how all of his lies completely crumbled apart. I think that is all someone needs to hear to be able to make a logical verdict for themselves. I don’t think people knew I went to a pre-trial hearing and was cross-examined already, so that being included is good because I remember a lot of questions from the public about why I didn’t go to court. But I didn’t have to as I already did that pretrial hearing and that being shown in the drama is very good. This also shows why I was more reassured and relieved upon arriving back in the UK, as the evidence at the court hearing was the start of me realising Black Death didn’t exist.

It must be strange seeing yourself played by an actor, what do you think of Nadia Parkes’s portrayal of you? Did you meet her?

I met Nadia a few times before filming started, so she was able to pick up on how I spoke, acted and mannerisms. I was surprised at how much detail goes into it to make sure everything is so perfect. Even things like her listening to my playlist and wearing my fragrance, things that you wouldn’t think matter, but that’s how in-depth it was. I think she did a really good job. It was surreal for the both of us as she has never played a real life person and so she was very dedicated to doing justice to my story. I didn’t hear her speaking my voice until I went on set as she was too shy to do it in front of me before. But walking in, it was like hearing myself.

Why do you think some people didn’t believe you when you returned to England?

When I came home people doubted my story. Firstly, I think that was because of the way the media were reporting it and leaving a lot of things out. I didn’t want anyone to know about the kidnapping but it was made public by the Italian authorities and therefore out of my control so I was trying to make a positive out of a bad situation.

I didn’t show my emotions in interviews – since being a child I have always hated the idea of people seeing me cry. I would always put on a brave face and cover things up with a smile. Even one of my closest childhood friends has only seen me cry twice in 20 years.

My kidnapper released me without the ransom being met because I was instinctively able to use emotions and sex appeal to get out and that seemed unbelievable to people. Instead of being praised for being smart, tactical and brave in doing this to survive, the media and public chose not to believe me and used this to say how holding hands with the kidnapper and not trying to escape was weird. Instead of sympathising with a victim they created more hurt so I hope they can learn something from watching the series.

It was a combination of all of those things which led to people not believing me.

You built up a bond with your kidnapper, but you must have been so scared. What gave you that inner strength to keep going?

Well, at the time I genuinely believed that he was a better person than the rest of the people in his gang. I didn’t know then that Black Death was something he’d made up, so I thought he would be saving me from them and he was my key to get out. I’m not saying it’s natural, but if you think someone’s trying to help you, you’re not going to be rude to them. And then the romance part – I saw signs that he had a crush on me so I had to use that to my advantage because I knew it would increase my chances of being released unharmed – it was me going into survival mode. That was my instinct in the situation. I couldn’t tell him I wasn’t interested. I was in danger, I was just trying to survive. While nothing happened physically between us, I used his vulnerability and convinced him that it could and that we could be a couple if he released me. So the kindness was natural, but the romance was not.

When you went to shop for shoes with your kidnapper were you tempted to run and why didn’t you?

No, not at all. It’s for the same reason why I didn’t feel safe even when I was released. I still felt like I was trapped because of the big picture in my head. So here I have someone promising to help me to get out and to settle it with the rest of the people in the gang, so if I was to run from him, not only would that turn him against me, it would be the whole gang. So that was the main reason that it wouldn’t cross my mind to run – because I was brainwashed into relying on him to put an end to it.

How did it feel to find out that the Black Death was an invented organisation? Did it take a while for this to sink in?

Yes, because I was never officially told that, it was more like little hints. As it shows in the drama at the pre-trial hearing, his lies started to come out and things that [Łukasz Herba] told me were the complete opposite of what was coming out in court. Then the DNA from the house and the emails between [Łukasz and Michał Herba], and all this court evidence really helped me to prove that it’s not what I thought it was. It’s reassuring that both people were caught and there was no bigger picture, no one else involved in kidnapping me is still out there and he wasn’t who he said he was.

What do you hope people will take away from the series?

I hope this series changes people’s views and makes them see the story from my perspective. There was so much of what happened which wasn’t reported on by the media, things that were not important in the big picture were blown out of proportion and key factual details were left out which I think resulted in many people being misled.

Hardly anyone knows that I had to stay in Italy for all of that time after being released by the kidnappers, which meant the interview outside my house was done weeks after my release, and the court case was never really reported on which I believe was because all of the evidence against Łukasz Herba, proving I was truthful, would contradict the route the media were going down at the time. 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.

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. 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. I hope it encourages the media to do better.

MORE CHOLE AYLING PRESS RELEASES BELOW:

July 6, 2023: Nadia Parkes to portray Chloe Ayling in upcoming BBC Three and iPlayer factual drama Kidnapped
https://bit.ly/44eg71J

August 1, 2024: BBC releases first trailer for new factual drama Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story
https://bit.ly/3Yth1r7

August 12, 2024: Interview with Nadia Parkes who plays Chloe in Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story
https://bit.ly/3SMkKfV

This factual drama follows her terrifying kidnap, her bravery and resilience in captivity, and the subsequent court case that put her kidnappers in jail. Yet despite their convictions, Chloe faced headlines accusing her of faking her own kidnapping, and found herself at the centre of a media storm.

It asks why Chloe was blamed for her kidnappers’ crimes? How do we relate to survivors of crime who make the front pages? And how does it feel to be an ordinary person, caught up in events so extraordinary that you aren’t believed?

Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story is a 6×30’ River Pictures production for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer in association with ZDFneo. The series is written by Georgia Lester, with individual episodes written by Nessa Wrafter (Early Days, Smother) and Tolula Dada (Grantchester, Red Rose). It is directed by Al Mackay (Without Sin, COBRA) and produced by Clare Shepherd (Viewpoint, The A Word). The executive producers are Michael Parke and Andrew Morrissey for River Pictures alongside Georgia Lester, Al Mackay and Priscilla Parish, with Lucy Richer executive producing for the BBC. River Pictures is part of BBC Studios, who are distributing the series internationally.

Watch Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three on Wednesday 14 August at 9pm.