When we talk about kidnapping victims, there’s usually a tone of sympathy, support, and justice.
But for Chloe Ayling, that wasn’t the case.
Her story—unthinkable and traumatic—was often met with skepticism, judgment, and outright disbelief.
Now, a new BBC documentary is peeling back the layers of misunderstanding surrounding her 2017 abduction and offering a surprising perspective that may finally quiet the doubters.
The Abduction That Gripped the World
Chloe Ayling was just 20 years old when she flew to Milan for what she believed was a photoshoot.
Instead, she was drugged with ketamine, stuffed inside a suitcase, and taken to a remote farmhouse where she was chained, threatened with being sold as a sex slave, and told she could be fed to tigers if she didn’t cooperate.
Her captor even sent chilling photos of her unconscious in lingerie to her London-based manager, demanding a ransom of €300,000.
It sounds like something out of a movie, which is partly why so many people questioned whether it was real.
Even as Chloe was eventually freed, the public response was more about picking holes in her story than praising her survival.
When Victims Don’t Act the Way We Expect
Perhaps the most damning reaction to Chloe’s story came from how she presented herself once she returned to the UK.
Standing outside her mother’s house, she made a public statement about her ordeal—but her delivery was calm, almost cheerful, and she wore a vest top and shorts.
That disconnect between her words and demeanor gave rise to doubts and accusations that it was all a hoax.
She later revealed: “The aftermath affected me more than the kidnap.” And it’s easy to see why.
Instead of being met with compassion, she was treated with suspicion, her every move dissected and criticized.
A New Diagnosis Offers New Understanding
One of the most compelling revelations in the new BBC documentary is Chloe’s diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
It came years after her ordeal but helped her make sense of why her reactions seemed so “off” to the public—and even to herself.
“I used to say I’m not an emotional person,” she explains in the series.
“But now I know that no matter how hard I try, I just can’t express emotion the way others do.”
She recalls her childhood struggles, like needing her mum on school trips because she couldn’t speak up for herself, or smiling when being told off because she didn’t know how else to react.
This diagnosis reframes how her behavior was interpreted—not as cold or calculated, but as neurodivergent.
The Questions That Refused to Die
Even with legal confirmation that a crime occurred, people still struggled to accept Chloe’s account.
Why, they asked, did she go shoe shopping with her kidnapper? Why didn’t she run when she had the chance?
The truth, Chloe now explains, is that her behavior was a calculated survival strategy.
Her captor, Lukasz Herba, posed as a member of a criminal group called “Black Death” and convinced her that she’d be killed or sold if she didn’t play along.
She even pretended they might have a future together just to keep him calm and herself safe.
A Former Ally Speaks Out
Phil Green, her former manager, is featured in the documentary defending Chloe’s character.
He remembers her as an ambitious but quiet young woman—a single mum with a baby son—who didn’t hang out with other models or party.
Though Chloe cut ties with him after the incident, blaming him in part for sending her to Milan, he maintains he did everything he could.
“The police were replying to the kidnapper’s emails from my office,” he says.
“I was totally out of my depth. I still feel terrible.”
Even so, he never doubted her truth.
He now believes her autism likely helped her stay calm during the ordeal—a trait that may have saved her life, even if it cost her credibility later.
Failed by the System
The documentary also hears from British and Italian police officers involved in the case.
One British detective, speaking anonymously, says the lowest point of his 30-year career was knowing he couldn’t find or save Chloe himself.
What’s even more shocking is that Chloe was essentially rescued not by police, but by her kidnapper.
Herba—who had become obsessed with her—walked her into the British Consulate in Milan.
She initially tried to stick to the story he made her learn, but eventually told the truth.
The Manipulative Kidnapper
In court, Lukasz Herba was described as a narcissistic fantasist.
A computer programmer from the UK, he had been Facebook friends with Chloe, which she only learned after the abduction.
He posed as a photographer, lured her to Italy, and kept her captive for six days.
His brother Michal helped orchestrate the plan and was also jailed.
Chloe talks openly in the documentary about how Herba made advances toward her, but she managed to fend them off by pretending they might have a romantic future. “He could have raped me,” she says.
“But he had this idea of me being in his future, and I used that.”
Trying to Reclaim Her Life
Despite the legal victory, Chloe still had to face public opinion.
Her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018—just a year after her release—was seen by many as proof she craved fame.
But for Chloe, it was a chance to reframe her story on her terms.
She’s since turned to modelling, including on platforms like OnlyFans, and now owns multiple properties.
She reveals in the documentary that she bought a home in North Wales—drawn to the peace and anonymity.
“No one knows who I am there,” she says.
Family, Silence, and What’s Left Unsaid
Her son, who lives with his father, isn’t mentioned in the series—Chloe chose to keep him out of the spotlight.
Her mother, still traumatized by what happened, can’t even talk about it eight years later.
Although the autism diagnosis has helped Chloe understand why people misunderstood her, she’s clear that it doesn’t excuse how she was treated.
“There is rarely such a thing as a ‘perfect victim,’” she says. “People disassociate.
They have delayed reactions. That shouldn’t mean they aren’t believed.”
A Final Word of Clarity
At the start of the documentary, Chloe asks: “What is it about me and my story that makes this so unbelievable?”
By the end, it’s clear—because she didn’t act like a “typical” victim, the world turned on her.
“I can’t really be mad at people for not understanding, when I didn’t really understand it myself,” she concludes.
Her story is a brutal reminder that trauma doesn’t come with a script.
And for Chloe Ayling, the real battle wasn’t just surviving the kidnapping—it was surviving the aftermath.