Model Chloe Ayling was kidnapped after being lured to a fake photo shoot in Milan. She was released six days later, but her ordeal was far from over – seven years on, she is still being called a liar.
“Headlines really stick in people’s minds, even years later,” Ms Ayling tells the BBC, explaining that she still receives online abuse from people questioning her account.
Her story is being told in a new six-part BBC series, Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story. The series, which follows Chloe’s experience being kidnapped and the media storm that followed, is based on police interviews, court transcripts and personal accounts – with some scenes created for dramatic purposes.
Ms Ayling faced years of doubts about her ordeal with people accusing her of faking her abduction, profiting from it and being involved in a publicity stunt.
But she’s since worked with the drama’s writer Georgia Lester and producers to tell her story.
“All I wanted was [the] facts to be laid out and everyone to know what actually happened,” Ms Ayling says.
She hopes her experience will help others. “This should be a lesson for people not to judge victims based on the way they act or react,” she adds.