Chloe Ayling suffered a traumatic event in her life when she was kidnapped back in 2017, and now her story is being told in a new factual drama series on BBC Three.
Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story is a six-part series written by Killing Eve's Georgia Lester which is based on in-depth research, interviews, documented legal proceedings and Ayling's own book, Kidnapped.
The drama explores the events of the kidnapping, as well as the media storm afterwards, with Ayling's story being brought into question.
Here's all you need to know about what happened to Chloe Ayling.
What happened to Chloe Ayling?
Ayling was 20 years old at the time of her kidnapping and began modelling when she was 18, as reported by the Radio Times.
She was lured from London to Milan on the promise of a photo shoot by Lukasz Herba, who drugged her and took her to a remote farmhouse in a holdall bag.
Herba said she would be sold online if she could not provide a $300,000 (approximately £230,000) ransom fee, BBC News reports.
Six days after the kidnapping Herba released Ayling to the British consulate in Milan.
When Ayling returned to the UK she came under fire as she was accused of posing for the cameras and smiling.
'I feel like my voice was never heard'
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 12, 2024
Model Chloe Ayling told #BBCBreakfast she is still being called a liar seven years after being kidnapped when she was lured to a fake photo shoot in Milan - as a drama based on her story is aired on the BBChttps://t.co/9tdCTU46bT pic.twitter.com/ZxnLZznjlr
Doubts started to emerge among some about whether her abduction was faked.
The Radio Times adds: "As an example, CCTV footage of Ayling holding Herba's hand while out shoe shopping received great attention. She was infamously grilled by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain following her ordeal."
Even after Herba was jailed for 16 years and nine months for her kidnapping, people continued to accuse her of not telling the truth.
Ayling later published a book about her experience and has worked closely with Georgia Lester in creating the BBC Three drama to showcase it.
Where is Chloe Ayling now?
Chloe Ayling is now a public figure and currently boasts over 200,000 followers on Instagram.
She is still a model and posts regular content to her Instagram and OnlyFans accounts.
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When asked by BBC Breakfast how she was doing seven years on from the kidnapping, Ayling shared: "I'm fine in myself. I'm happy, I've moved on. I'm happy that the drama is being made because, as you just said, still, seven years on there's still criticism.
"I feel like my voice was never heard back then, it was really overpowered by negativity on maybe how I dressed or how I presented myself, or the fact I wasn't emotional.
"So I'm glad that it can be just laid out and the facts can be shown visually, so that people can understand such a complex story."
Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story airs from 9pm on Wednesday, August 14 on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
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