06 February 2024 , 13:44
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The first look at a BBC drama based on the kidnapping of Chloe Ayling has been released.
A six-part series is set to detail Chloe's abduction and her time in captivity. The glamour model was abducted at the age of 21 for six days in 2017. Mum-of-one Chloe, now 26, was lured to Milan by Polish national Lukasz Herba with the promise of modelling work, only to be drugged and kidnapped.
The complex case has inspired BBC's Kidnapped, which follows Chloe's terrifying kidnap, her bravery and resilience in captivity, and the subsequent court case that put her kidnappers in jail. Actress Nadia Parkes will play the role of Chloe and the series has been written by Georgia Lester, who worked on Killing Eve.
Nadia Parkes plays Chloe Ayling in the upcoming BBC drama (BBC Studios/Sally Mais)They were able to piece together the drama from research, interviews, the legal proceedings and Chloe’s autobiography Kidnapped – The Untold Story Of My Abduction. The BBC said: “It will tell Chloe’s personal story in full for the first time, going behind the headlines to shine a light on the emotional truth."
Chloe claimed she had been injected with the tranquilliser ketamine, stuffed into a holdall bag and driven 120 miles in a car boot to a remote farmhouse near Turin, however some doubted her story. She claimed she had been gagged, was unconscious for much of the journey, and was later told she would be auctioned as a sex slave on the dark web for €300,000 (£265,000).
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When she returned home Chloe gave an interview to TV reporters outside her home, which is played out in the new series. She said: “I feared for my life, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour." Yet her story was still scrutinised as footage showed Chloe on CCTV footage in an Italian village, holding her kidnapper’s hand.
Chloe bravely re-told her story despite doubts (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The glamour model wants people to 'know the truth' about what happened to her (Getty Images)She ended up being grilled by Piers Morgan who told her: “It’s not insignificant to be going shopping with the alleged kidnapper and buying new shoes. If you’re going to conduct media interviews where you’re being paid money, and you’re doing a book for thousands of pounds before there’s even been a trial, I think we’re perfectly entitled to ask you difficult questions.”
Chloe told him: “It will all come out in the end." She was right, as Herba was convicted of kidnapping and extortion, and sentenced to 16 years and nine months in jail. Speaking about Kidnapped, Chloe said: "I am excited that BBC Studios are telling my story and that the wider world will get to know the truth about what happened to me and learn of the many details that weren't brought to light originally."
Actress Nadia, who has starred in The B***ard Son & The Devil Himself, said of her casting: "This is a timely and important story about how we perceive trauma in the media." Filming for the drama started last year and was shot in the UK and Italy.
Kidnapped will launch on BBC Three and iPlayer later this year.