A British model allegedly kidnapped in Italy was “humiliated” by her capture and did not make up the story for publicity, her former agent has said.
Phil Green told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he was standing by Chloe Ayling, who Italian police said was snatched by a group calling itself Black Death in Milan last month.
Ms Ayling is believed to have been drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online.
The 20-year-old said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan before being bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave.
Mr Green, of Supermodel Agency, said he felt responsible “in the sense that I didn't want to send her to the hands of a kidnapper”, but that everything about the shoot “checked out”.
The model, from Coulsdon, south London, only began telling her story after the Italian police “gave out every detail”, he said.
He told GMB: “Trust me, I wouldn't be sat here today, nor would Chloe be giving an interview, had it not been for the Italian police giving a press release.
“She was humiliated by the fact that she'd been kidnapped.
“She'd been through an ordeal, she wanted to forget it and come back home and start her normal modelling life.”
Ms Ayling received £200,000 worth of offers of work when she returned to the UK, he said, and has since moved to a new modelling agency.
But, Mr Green added: “She didn't do this for publicity purposes by any means.”
He warned other models to be careful over their social media use when posting details of jobs.
Press Association
