Documentary ‘to unpack the truth’ of Chloe Ayling kidnapping

By Jenny Garnsworthy, PA

Model Chloe Ayling has said a new documentary about her kidnapping ordeal “truly unravels and dives deep” into what happened to her.

Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping is a new three-part documentary series which will see Ayling revisit her time in captivity in 2017 and explore how it continues to shape her life.

The British glamour model was abducted after arriving at an address in Milan, Italy, for a modelling job.

 

Ayling was held in a farmhouse near Turin while a €300,000 ransom was demanded.

Her captors told her she would be sold as a sex slave as part of a dark web auction, but she was eventually able to convince them to let her walk free and into the hands of the local authorities.

Polish national Lukasz Herba and his brother, Michal Herba, were subsequently jailed after an Italian court convicted them of kidnapping Ayling.

But the model faced headlines claiming she had faked her ordeal, and was accused in court of being involved in a publicity stunt to further her modelling career.

In her first documentary interview since her abductors’ conviction, Ayling recounts in her own words what happened, along with the media reaction and why many people refused to believe her.

 

Ayling said: “I’m delighted BBC Studios are telling my story – not only in my own words, but also through the voices of those directly involved.

“For years, people have doubted me, often because they don’t understand what really happened – or who I am.

“I think this documentary truly unravels and dives deep into who I am, the events of the kidnapping, as well as the intense media aftermath that tried to define me.

“I think people will finally see through the headlines.”

Executive producer Katharine Patrick said: “This series enables Chloe to unpack the truth of what happened to her eight years ago, allowing her to process the ordeal she’s been through in an honest and unflinching way, and make sense of the person she is now as a result.”

The series will air on BBC Three and iPlayer next month.