Arabella Chi has broken her silence after a terrifying incident which left her “petrified”.
Earlier this week, The UK Sun reported that the Love Island star had been dragged from her car and attacked by two men in a horror robbery.
Police are said to have told the model she had been targeted by an organised crime group while travelling from Ibiza with her father.
Speaking to the publication, Arabella said: “Reliving it all I feel physically sick.”
“It was so scary and I’ve been having nightmares about being dragged out of bed, just like I was from the car.”
“I was petrified when it happened, but now I know they’d been watching us and waiting to attack us, it is even more horrible to think about.”
“Mopeds are all around you at traffic lights and both our back wheels were slashed.”
“We think they’d got us at the first set of lights and we’d not noticed,” Arabella continued. “It was clever of them.”
“As I pulled off from the lights I could see the tyre pressure dropping really quickly on the car’s computer.”
“We got out of the car and got our electric pump out when four men approached us.”
“I thought they were being friendly, as they were telling us where a garage was, but now I know they were scoping out the car.”
“Even though I have blacked-out windows, they could have seen it was packed full of luggage and I think they wanted that.”
After pumping air into the tyres, Arabella and Paul attempted to drive off but the tyres deflated twice more, explaining: “The second time we got out and tried again a man on a moped pulled up and started shouting at me.”
“He was very intimidating and threatening so my dad told me to get back in the car. He realised then the tyres had been slashed.”
The man left, leaving Arabella and Paul stranding on a quiet road. At around 9pm, the pair decided to order an Uber to a petrol station for help.
“We decided to lock me in the car and that my dad would go and get help from a garage where he could buy some emergency sealant.”
“It felt like the safest thing to do at the time. Locked inside my car, I thought I would be all right.”
Shortly after Paul left in the Uber, Arabella revealed she heard the car unlock, saying: “Hearing the doors unlock makes me feel sick. I was terrified.”
“I remember the lights flashing. This man was grabbing my arm and pulling me out.”
“He was shouting at me and saying he was going to take me to a garage to help me. I started screaming, ‘Get off me, get off me,'” Arabella continued.
“As he was pulling me out I was trying to stay in the car and shut the door so I could lock it again but my hands were frozen.”
“At the same time the other door opened but I didn’t see it. I was making such a racket that after a few seconds he just let go and walked off really calmly.”
“I locked the doors again, not that that would have made any difference, and I rang my dad and was screaming and crying.”
Picture: Brian McEvoy
“I was petrified,” Arabella continued. “I thought they might be going to get more people then come back to get me.”
“I knew they could un- lock the car and I was by myself. That is what I find so scary, I don’t know what they would have done if they’d come back.”
“The man who grabbed me was staring at the other man but I didn’t realise at the time.”
“It was like he was saying to him, ‘I’ve got her, she’s distracted, get her bag.'”
“My dog Astro was in the footwell of the passenger seat and I am so relieved they didn’t touch him,” Arabella continued.
“They could have taken him and demanded cash for his return. It’s these things I keep thinking about.”
Explaining the paranoia she felt afterwards, the Love Island star said: “I thought, ‘What if the Uber driver is in on it?’. He said to load up his car with the luggage and I thought, ‘What if he just drives off?'”
“I just wanted to get out of there so Dad got in with him and I drove slowly behind them. I didn’t care about ruining my alloys.”
“About an hour later a woman called saying she’d found my handbag and had seen my number in Astro’s dog passport,” Arabella continued. “I was worried she was in on it too. I became so paranoid and stopped trusting everyone.”
“The police were amazing and so was the consulate.”
“But I just wanted to get out of Barcelona. I was constantly on edge, I kept thinking the gang might still be watching us.”
“My dad would have been vulnerable because men tend to fight back more. They could have attacked my dad and knocked his lights out.”
“They could have done a lot more damage,” Arabella continued. “I know they could have beaten both of us but I think men are more likely to get hurt.”
“I’ve had nightmares and trouble sleeping. I don’t think I’ll ever do that drive again and if I do, I’ll be taking a different route.”
“They watch you and then they pounce. I want to tell people to be aware at traffic lights, especially when you’re coming off the ferry. They know you’ll have your passports and that is what they want.”
“I’d hate to think of this happening to a family with children in the car because it is so scary,” Arabella continued. “If this ever happens to you, do not stop like we did. We had no idea we were targets until it was too late.”
“I was always so trusting of people — but not any more.”
“I thought those people were trying to help us but they were criminals who’d been watching us and waiting for us.”
“It makes me sick thinking about what happened and how much worse it could have been. I never want anyone to have to go through what we have.”
