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.
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.
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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.
Interview with Nadia Parkes
Can you tell us what the series is about and the real-life events that took place in 2017.
Chloe is a glamour model from London, originally from Croydon. In 2017 she was abducted on a photoshoot in Milan and held captive in the middle of nowhere for a week. She was told that there was a massive crime organisation called Black Death who were after her and her family. She was released by her captor and then she found out in during the investigation and in court that it was actually just one man and his brother. When she got back to the UK many people didn’t believe her and she received a lot of hate in the media.
Why do you think Chloe wasn’t believed?
I think as a society there was a lot of judgement on the way she presented herself, what she wore and the fact that she was unapologetically herself. She decided she wouldn’t let these events change who she was in the media and stayed true to the person she was before she was kidnapped.
What was the process of being cast like?
I got the script through and instantly looked up the GMB interview. I actually got goosebumps all the way through my body. I watched loads of interviews – I watched everything on her! And as soon as I met the production team I knew that I could trust them to tell the story in the way it should be told – fairly and with empathy. So I got the call to say I’d got the part and I was very excited, but then I had an absolute panic about being able to play her.
Talk us through the research you did to prepare for this role.
I prepared for the role by doing as much research as I could on Chloe. There were a lot of public appearances and interviews available to me, so I had direct references to how she looks and how she holds herself and how her voice sounds in the moment. And then I met her. I think there was a certain amount of research I could do and public appearances I could watch, but it was meeting her and getting to have a conversation with her that changed my ability to transform into her because I got to pick up on her energy.
What was the process of transforming into Chloe like?
The hair and makeup team were unbelievable on this job. I dyed my hair and we did lots of nails because they can help you hold your hands differently. We have different body types and the costume department made my body shape match hers more and make it look so authentic. And then Al [Mackay] directed me in a way to help Chloe come out of me more.
What was it like when Chloe came to visit set?
I was really nervous – a lot of the time when people play real-life people they’re often older and playing a younger version of themselves or have sadly passed away. So it’s quite scary having the person you’re playing on set with you. I think it’s the best compliment I ever got because after she watched a take she said to me ‘That sounds just like me. And your walk is just like me and you’re holding yourself like me. And even your hands’.
Why is this such an important story to tell?
It’s important because it’s about a bigger question to society – about how lots of people perceive women in the media and how trauma can be perceived. It also has a really clear message about social media. We look into a lot of the hate that she was receiving and the downside of the world of social media. It’s such a great platform in so many ways but it can also be so damaging. I think people can hide behind these screens sending hateful comments and messages to people and they fail to remember that there’s a human sitting behind that.
How will Kidnapped differentiate from traditional depictions of kidnapping and violence against women?
It’s very different because it was such a complex story. I think depictions of kidnappings and violence towards women can come across quite gratuitous, and this was anything but that. It was always Chloe’s point of view at the heart of it, at the centre of it.
What was it like filming out on location?
It was quite eerie at times shooting in Italy because we didn’t use the exact locations, but we shot in similar locations to where some of the events happened. It was beautiful and eerie all in one.
Are there any moments on set that stand out to you?
There were so many memories. Some incredible highs and some really moving moments. They’re the ones that really stick out for me. The farmhouse scenes were difficult to film. I couldn’t stop thinking about Chloe going through it alone and in real life. But because I was acting I could come out of the scenes, take a beat and remind myself it’s not real.
Interview with Georgia Lester (Writer)
Can you tell us what the series is about and the real life events that took place in 2017?
In July 2017, 20-year-old model Chloe Ayling was booked for a photo shoot in Milan. When she arrived at the job she was drugged, kidnapped and woke up handcuffed in the boot of a car. She spent a terrifying week in captivity being told that she was going to be sold in a sex trafficking ring. Chloe showed great bravery in an incredibly traumatic situation.
She was released after a week on the condition that she pay her own ransom, but was told that she was going to be watched by a mafia-like crime group called Black Death. After extensive and intense police questioning in Italy, she was forced to remain in Italy for three weeks while an investigation was carried out. She was consumed by fear and paranoia that she would be punished for speaking to the police or taken again, only to discover at a pretrial that Black Death was a complete figment of her kidnapper’s imagination and there was no crime gang after her.
Chloe returned home to the UK to media intrusion and public doubt over her abduction and she found herself in savage trial-by-media. In June 2018 her kidnapper was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years and 9 months in prison, but despite this, and the fact that his conviction was upheld in successive appeals, Chloe continued to be doubted and judged harshly in the public eye.
What gave you the idea for the series, and how did it come about?
I was sent Chloe’s book and was passionate about telling Chloe’s story in a way that invited the audience into her experience by showing not only what she endured during her kidnapping, but also explored the aftermath.
The drama reveals details that have not been widely written about before in the press, such as the fact she remained in Milan in the immediate aftermath of her release while the investigation unfolded, and was not allowed to return to the UK until she’d attended a pre-trial and faced her kidnapper in court. Alongside her harrowing ordeal in captivity, I wanted to shine a light on Chloe’s devastation and frustration that she wasn’t believed by the press, the public and some of her friends.
Chloe was an ordinary 20-year-old who was caught up in extraordinary and horrific events, and none of us know how we would react in similar circumstances. I wanted to understand this from her point of view, to make a considered, well-researched drama that went behind the headlines, to shine a light on what really happened to Chloe and why she responded in the way that she did.
Did you follow Chloe’s case at the time, or did you come to it later?
I was aware of Chloe’s case at the time, but I don’t really remember reading about the final trial or verdict. And like most people, I remember reading that she went shoe shopping with the kidnapper and that she lied to the police when she was released.
But it wasn’t until I read Chloe’s book and I spoke to her that I understood these experiences. It’s important to go behind the headlines to understand the true story, and the drama is uniquely able to bring this to life and help us understand what it felt like for Chloe.
How did you research the series?
I began by reading Chloe’s book and then spending time with her. She talked me through exactly what happened in 2017 and 2018 and I was keen to learn more about her and what her life looked like before she was kidnapped. It was really illuminating getting to know Chloe, and understanding who she is, which helped me understand why she behaved the way she did during and after her kidnapping.
I also had access to a vast amount of research material which included transcripts of police interviews and court transcripts of both the pre-trial and the trial of Łukasz Herba. We had access to the body of evidence that was presented in court including emails between the kidnappers and transcripts of phone calls that Herba made from prison.
The producers and I spoke to a number of people involved in the case, including lawyers, detectives, and Chloe’s previous and present agent, family and friends, I have also drawn on the huge amount of broadcast, press and social media coverage of Chloe’s story and reflected on the nature of that coverage during and after the case itself.
What was it like when Chloe came to visit the set?
We have a duty of care in making a factual drama so a lot of thought went into the decision for Chloe to visit the set. She was keen to come, and visited on a day when we were filming a photoshoot which portrayed her life before the kidnapping.
It was a scene which reflected her ambition and her enjoyment of her job. Chloe enjoyed the visit and was fascinated by the attention of detail that goes into everything.
The resemblance between Nadia and Chloe is uncanny. Can you tell us about that transformation and also about the casting process?
I was absolutely blown away by Nadia’s first tape and I think she manages to encapsulate Chloe in a really mesmerising way. I also think hair and makeup did a really great job transforming Nadia into Chloe, from the confident glamour model we see before her kidnapping to the very scared, dishevelled Chloe we meet in captivity.
Costume and hair and makeup did such extensive research to make sure that Nadia authentically represented Chloe at the time – from selfies and photos taken before she was kidnapped, to the CCTV images that we had during the kidnapping.
Why do you think this series is important? What do you hope people will take away from it?
Most importantly for me, my ambition has always been to vindicate Chloe in the eyes of the people who didn’t believe her, and to help people understand why she behaved the way she did. I think it’s important to understand that she was coerced, and being compliant saved her life.
That’s why she didn’t ask for help when she was taken to a nearby village during her time in captivity. She was so brainwashed by the man who kidnapped her, that it was her fear of the police that prompted her to lie in her police interview, and not that she had anything to hide.
I think this series is important because it explores how we treat victims, specifically women, and our own preconceptions of what a victim should look like. It’s a drama about believing women, whatever their reaction to trauma is, believing them whatever they decide to wear, and however they make their money. Chloe has a remarkable ability to read people, and she was able to remain calm in the most nightmarish situation, to understand that her kidnapper had feelings for her, and she was able to convince him to release her.
Chloe recognised that screaming and crying and disobeying her kidnapper would not save her. She was extremely brave and resilient in the face of horrifying threats and it was her courage and calm demeanour that saved her life.
Why do you think many people didn’t believe Chloe?
I think people thought she was exploiting her experience for money, because she was being paid to do interviews for TV and the papers. But she was a young woman with financial responsibilities who couldn’t continue with her career as a model at that time, all because she had been kidnapped. Once people started to doubt her story, Chloe wanted to amplify what had happened to her, to prove that she was telling the truth. She was caught in a vicious cycle of wanting to publicly defend herself, and then finding herself doubted further because her attempts at having her voice heard, were misconstrued as attempts for fame and money, which fed into the false narrative that her abduction was a publicity stunt.
Chloe was always herself when she presented herself to the press – she wore clothes that gave her confidence and comfort, and she was stoic and unemotional because she hates crying in public. And ironically, that made people doubt her. She was being her authentic self, but that image didn’t fit in with preconceptions of victimhood and how a traumatised woman should look and behave.
Interview with Michael Parke and Andrew Morrissey (Executive Producers)
How did Kidnapped first come about?
We were aware of Chloe Ayling’s story from when it was in the news at the time, but in all honesty none of us could remember what the conclusion of her story was. Instead, the residual memory was of her being questioned about the truth of her experience. When we began to research around the story we realised just how poorly Chloe had been treated, and how resonant her experience was to issues we face today. We felt Chloe’s story was one that could really benefit from being explored in a factual drama.
Can you tell us about the casting process?
Casting an actor to play a real person always adds an extra level of responsibility, and so it was vital we found the right actor for Chloe. From early on, we were struck by how perfect Nadia felt for the role. Not only did she bear a striking resemblance to Chloe, she had an incredible ability to sound and act like her as well as the talent to portray the range of emotions and experiences that Chloe went through. It’s a remarkable performance and we can’t wait for people to see it.
What does the show set out to do?
The series sets out to bring the audience into the experience that Chloe went through, and put us in her shoes. So much of the coverage and discussion at the time questioned her experiences and, in doing so, what was lost was an empathy or an understanding of what she had been through – and the remarkable strength and fortitude she had in surviving what had happened. The series gives us a chance to recognise and appreciate that.
What were the challenges of bringing the series to the screen?
There is a heavy responsibility in bringing someone’s very traumatic personal story to the screen. Chloe was incredibly open with us from the start, talking us through every element of her experience from the abduction right up until the day the kidnappers were jailed in Milan. But alongside that we have a duty to thoroughly interrogate the other elements of the story so that we always present a fully balanced picture of what happened to Chloe, how it was investigated and how it was reported in the wider media. Chloe could talk us through her personal experiences but even she wasn’t aware of the behind-the-scenes details from the police investigations in Italy and in the UK. Nor did she know every element of the legal case against her kidnappers. So the level of research, and our conversations with police, lawyers, and prosecutors around all of those parts of the story were an intrinsic part of how we approach this drama.
What do you think a drama does to tell a story which a documentary doesn’t, and why was this important for Kidnapped?
A drama can get inside the emotional truth of someone’s experience in a way that a documentary might struggle to do. We hope that Nadia’s brilliantly precise performance allows the audience to understand more closely just how Chloe felt and reacted at each moment during her horrific experience. Her shock, her fear, her internal reasoning, her fragile sense of hope – all of these emotions that Chloe experienced while captive in the farmhouse – and then everything that came when she was released and back in the UK – are there for an audience to feel first hand.
Why do you think people didn’t believe Chloe’s story?
Perhaps Chloe didn’t present as the victim that many people expected her to be. Perhaps there was in inbuilt distrust of a young woman who made her living in glamour modelling. Perhaps she was judged for her demeanour and outfit in her first interview. One of the media commentators at the time said ‘she didn’t look too traumatised’ – as if there is only one way someone who has been thought a horrific event should behave.
What do you think viewers will take away from it?
We hope Kidnapped will ask questions about how we as a society treat victims, especially women, and the preconceived ideas we may have about what a victim of a crime looks like and how they should behave.
Cast List
Nadia Parkes – Chloe Ayling
Adrian Edmondson – Phil Green
Nigel Lindsay – Adrian Sington
Olive Gray – Amber
Eleanora Romandini – Nicoletta
Julian Swiezewski – MD/Łukasz Herba
Jaroslaw Ciepichal – Michał Herba
Christine Tremarco – Bea
Lorenzo Richelmy – Francesco