Chloe Ayling’s former friend claims the kidnapped model’s management team left her fearing for her life.
Carla Bellucci has known Chloe since the Celebrity Big Brother star was 15 but said she was ‘threatened’ after going on TV to talk about her abduction.
The ex-model was interviewed on This Morning in 2017 after her pal was drugged with ketamine, stuffed into a suitcase and car boot before being held in a remote village in Italy for six days.
READ MORE: Chloe Ayling after kidnapping – Celebrity Big Brother stint to huge announcement
READ MORE: Click for more brilliant Daily Star showbiz stories
But the chat with Eammon Holmes and Ruth Langsford destroyed the friendship — and Carla is speaking about it for the first time ahead of a new BBC drama called Kidnapped.
(Image: @pixbygiovanni)
Remembering the backlash, Carla, 42, told the Daily Star: “I went on This Morning to talk about her and stick up for her when it first all came out and, oh my days, her management threatened me with phone calls stating I would never work again if I ever spoke about her.
“I was petrified and scared for my life. Back then I was so scared and naive I actually believed her management were going to come for me.
“I was shocked and I was genuinely petrified and I thought I was going to be arrested for something. I thought they were going to try and get me into trouble but I know I had done nothing wrong.”
(Image: Instagram)
Chloe, who now sells racy content online, was just 21 when she was snatched by two brothers after being lured to Italy for a fake modelling job.
Her kidnappers — Lukasz and Michael Herba — threatened to auction her as a sex slave if a ransom of €300,000 (£265,000) was not met.
But she was released from the farmhouse in Turin on July 17 before the brothers were sentenced to more than 16 years behind bars for the kidnapping.
Carla used to work in a photography studio and she said that is where she first met Chloe, who was 15 and wanted to be a model.
The pair became friends and after the kidnapping, Carla said: “She called me as soon as she landed in the UK and said ‘it was me, I have been in Italy’. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it and it was so good to hear her voice.”
(Image: @pixbygiovanni)
At the time Chloe was being accused on social media of having something to do with the terrifying ordeal — something Carla spoke about on television.
Asked on This Morning whether those rumours could be true, Carla replied: “I’ve only spoken to her briefly, so that’s such a hard question. There is new evidence that’s come out that I wasn’t aware of before. But if you were scared and you were told to do something, you would.”
She went on to say: “She’s beautiful, lovely, but a little naive. Like everybody who comes into the modelling industry, she wants to be famous, and she’s willing to go all the way.”
And questioned now about why she made the comments, she said: “I just thought I was sticking up for her and I always knew she wouldn’t have made it up so when the fallout happened I was shocked. I never said anything bad, I just spoke and said she was young and naive like we all are.”
Mum-of-four Carla revealed she has not spoken directly to Chloe since — even though they had arranged to meet in London for coffee after the abduction.
But she said she was ‘so happy’ that her former friend went on to star in Celebrity Big Brother and become a household name in the media industry.
The BBC is now showing a six-part dramatisation of Chloe’s kidnap saga and we asked Carla whether she would watch the show.
“Yes, 100%,” she concluded. “The story is fascinating and I’m keen to know the ins and outs and, like I said, I never doubted her truth.”
The Daily Star has contacted Chloe Ayling’s representatives for a response to claims made in this story.
All episodes of Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story are now available on BBC iPlayer, with episodes airing from 9pm tonight on BBC Three.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
