The British model accused of fabricating a kidnap in a bid for publicity has appeared on Good Morning Britain to defend profiting from her alleged ordeal and ‘lying to police’.
Chloe Ayling, 20, has attracted criticism after claiming she was snatched and held hostage after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan in July.
But the mother-of-one hit back during a tense interview with Piers Morgan today, when the host accused her of ‘promoting herself’ and probed her about being seen ‘laughing and joking’ with her alleged kidnappers.
British model Chloe Ayling was grilled by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain
The mother-of-one, 20, defended profiting from her alleged kidnapping ordeal after being paid for television interviews and writing a book
Ms Ayling claimed she was snatched, drugged and held for six days by a group calling itself Black Death.
Today the model defended profiting from her alleged ordeal after being paid for television interviews and writing a book.
Speaking on ITV, Ms Ayling insisted that the truth would be revealed when the men accused of being involved in her abduction appear in court.
But when quizzed by Piers Morgan she revealed she will be paid ‘a few thousand’ pounds to release a book, and she had also been paid for some interviews.
Piers asked her: ‘Does it help you to be apparently seen to be exploiting all this for financial gain when we haven’t even had the trial yet?’
Ms Ayling replied: ‘No, because I am not modelling anymore. I am not with an agent, so I have to do something in the meantime.’
Addressing reports she lied to police about a shopping trip with one of the alleged kidnappers, she said: ‘I didn’t lie, I just brushed it off.’
However Piers referred to evidence from a local shopkeeper, who claimed they had seen Ms Ayling with her alleged kidnappers.
Speaking on ITV, Ms Ayling insisted that the truth would be revealed when the men accused of being involved in her abduction appear in court
Michal Herba (left, with with brother Lukasz in Milan in July) was arrested by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities last month
A picture of the mountain house where Chloe Ayling was allegedly held in the village of Borgial near Turin
He said: ‘A shopkeeper claims to have seen you with one of the kidnappers laughing, buying shoes, laughing and joking without a care in the world.
‘This has raised a lot of eyebrows about why on earth you would go shopping with one of the alleged kidnappers.’
And when asked why she did not attempt to escape, she replied: ‘I couldn’t flee because he was armed.
‘I was completely brainwashed into thinking there was a whole massive crime organisation against me. I thought I would still be killed if I escaped.’
She added: ‘No one understands the reasoning. Unless you were in my position, and actually went through what I’ve been through, no one can tell me how I should have behaved with the kidnapper or how I should be reacting now.’
Piers responded: ‘I think 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 has even been a trial, I think we’re perfectly entitled to ask you difficult questions.
‘So you’re not being unfairly judged. You’re sitting here because you’re promoting yourself.’
Ms Ayling has attracted criticism for the way she has handled herself in the media since the incident
Italian police released a reconstruction photo of a woman in a suitcase after the arrest
When asked about going to a cafe with one of the alleged kidnappers before going to police, she said: ‘I can see why people think it’s weird. But then in my eyes he was the guy that saved me from the Romanians, he was the one that stood up for me and defended me.
‘He was not one of the masked men that took me, who he claimed was always Romanians. He was the one that came in and stood up for me.’
The model’s alleged captor, Lukasz Herba, 30, is in custody in Milan, having been arrested after delivering Ms Ayling to the British Embassy.
He has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime.
At a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Friday, District Judge Paul Goldspring ruled that his 36-year-old brother, Michal Herba, should be extradited to Italy to face trial.
The Polish brothers, along with other ‘unidentified’ accomplices, are accused of kidnapping the model before demanding a 300,000 euro (£264,000) ransom.