SMILING into the cameras as she struck a pose, few could see the trauma hidden behind the eyes of stunning model Bianca Gascoigne.
The Love Island winner, 37, who is the adopted daughter of England footballer ‘Gazza’, overcame heartbreaking childhood struggles including familial alcoholism and being disowned by a parent.
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Now Bianca has revealed she is a victim of sexual abuse – telling Sky News she was groomed and attacked by monster Mohamed Al Fayed, the late owner of department store Harrods who died last year, aged 94.
She joins scores of women denouncing the late businessman following a BBC documentary into his alleged sexual misconduct, which has led to the Metropolitan Police recording more than 60 allegations including rape.
Describing her ordeal as “horrific”, Bianca says Al Fayed promoted her to a fashion buyer at his Knightsbridge store at 16 years old and lavished her family with gifts before sexually assaulting her.
She claimed he groped her, forced her to kiss him on the lips and recounted another particularly harrowing ordeal when he let her stay at his Harrods Park Lane flat.
Bianca said: “He turned up at the apartment to my shock, I was just gobsmacked. I was kind of very shell-shocked.
“I just didn’t really know what to do. He came in and then he sat me down on the sofa… he got his privates out and got my hands and was trying to manoeuvre them on his parts.
“When that didn’t work he was trying to force my head onto his lap. And I don’t know how but I managed to wiggle away.
“And I think possibly you know, that him knowing my parents… I don’t know, that might have saved me at that moment but it was horrific.”
The Egyptian’s alleged abuse was just one part of a troubled and traumatic upbringing, which incredibly the model has been able to recover from.
Now as Bianca bravely speaks out, we look at how she navigated her way back to forge a successful career and happy family life.
Twisted ‘father figure’
The 37-year-old has opened up about her employment under Al Fayed when she was a teenager on The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee.
The abuse began after she was promoted from shop floor worker to her “dream” job of a fashion buyer.
Bianca says he manipulated her by insisting he was a “father figure”, which led to a “false sense of security with him early doors” and eventually to abuse during weekly meetings.
She recalls: “He’s doing all these things to me and I was close to people that he knew, and I felt like I couldn’t even tell them either, because I didn’t want to bring embarrassment and shame.
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“[Al Fayed] told me that if I would say anything that I would lose my job. So I just got really scared, at 16 turning 17, you think you know what’s going on at the time but you really don’t.”
Bianca says Al Fayed would regularly force her to kiss him and recalled that horrifying incident at his apartment, which he told her to stay at because she had an early flight the next morning.
She suspects the businessman knowing her parents was the only thing that “saved her” when she refused to give in to his alleged sexual demands.
Bianca also recalled him describing her adopted father Gazza, Paul Gascoigne, as “an embarrassment” and regularly mocked his mental health and addiction problems.
I think he needs to go into rehab for a very long time… I’ve got fingers, toes, eyelashes crossed that he will get better
Bianca on Paul
“He used to tell me how much of a bad father my dad was because he used to come into the store drunk,” she says.
More than 250 people are involved in compensation claims against Harrods related to Al Fayed’s allegedly sexual misconduct.
‘My fault’
England player Paul’s alcoholism had an effect on his whole family – but especially Bianca, who says as a youngster she blamed herself for his struggles.
She told Vicki Pattison’s The Secret To podcast: “As a child, I always felt like it was my fault this was happening. I couldn’t stop it and I always felt this big responsibility.”
Bianca agreed as the Geordie Shore star explained: “You don’t know why they don’t love you enough to stop”, before realising in adulthood that there was “nothing we could have done”.
During her 2017 appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Bianca opened up about the toll his issues had taken on the family.
Around that time, Paul had fractured his skull during a boozy fight at a hotel and Bianca admitted she longed for him to return to rehab.
“He’s a big part of our lives. We love him. I love him, if I could wave a magic wand for him to be better obviously I would do it,” she told a Big Brother housemate.
“I think he needs to go into rehab for a very long time… I’ve got fingers, toes, eyelashes crossed that he will get better.
“I worry about Dad. We’ve become close over this last year.”
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Bianca pointed out that it was often her mother Sheryl, who divorced Paul in 1998, who was blamed for her ex-husband’s health.
“She is still helping him even now, every day. She’s been a bit of a scapegoat,” the model explained.
While Bianca has not addressed this part of her childhood, Sheryl claimed Gazza was charming to the outside world yet abusive to her and their three children.
Speaking about the duality, the mum explained that few would recognise “the monstrous, manipulative, divisive, bullying drunk my children knew as Dad”.
Who is Bianaca Gascoigne?
SHE was born into fame as the adopted daughter of legendary footballer Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne.
But Bianca, now 37, first cut her teeth as a glamour model appearing in Lads magazines including Zoo, Nuts and Loaded.
Her first foray into reality TV was in 2006 when she appeared on the original series of Celebrity Love Island, which she won alongside Calum Best.
It paved the way for other appearances on the small screen including Celebrity Gladiators and her first presenting gig Big Brother spin off Big Mouth.
Bianca also appeared on Celebrity Coach Trip, BBC Three dating show Snog, Marry, Avoid? and tried her luck on The X Factor, reaching BootCamp before she was kicked out.
In 2017, she went on Celebrity Big Brother, where she discussed her adopted dad Paul’s drinking issues and how it affected the family. She placed sixth in the series.
Last month, she competed against the likes of Pete Wick, Anthony Joshua and Georgia Steel on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
In 2022, Bianca acknowledged one of the big difficulties with alcoholism was that it’s a lifelong battle for sufferers.
When asked how her adopted dad was coping, she said: “He’s ok. It’s still there and still present but we just want the best for him.”
Disowned by dad
Bianca didn’t have things much easier with her biological dad Colin Kyle, who is also the father of her brother Mason.
After he and her mum Sheryl split up in 1986, it appears there has been little contact with his kids and according to the model, he had little interest in having a relationship.
In 2006, when Bianca appeared on Celebrity Love Island – a series she won alongside Calum Best – she opened up about Colin.
“He never really wanted to see me,” she responded when asked if she saw “anything” of her “real dad” by the actor Lee Otway.
“He didn’t make an effort and before I came away I actually sat down and thought, ‘God, you’ve got two children and you don’t even know them,’ it’s weird.”
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When Lee suggested he would “be kicking himself now” seeing the woman she had become, Bianca added: “I hope so.
“I don’t know how he sleeps at night, I don’t how you can you have two children and you don’t even want to know them.”
‘Awful’ pregnancy
Having had such a difficult family life growing up, it was no wonder when Bianca became pregnant in 2022 she was a little apprehensive and fearful.
This trepidation was worsened by antenatal depression, which strikes during pregnancy, and she told The Sun there were times she “didn’t want to be pregnant”.
She explained: “I just wanted to be in a corner, I just wasn’t me at all. You’re supposed to be so happy and like, ‘This is the best time of my life’ and that makes everything worse.
“I was just thinking ‘no this is awful I hate it,’ throughout the whole time.”
When my daughter was born, it was like I transformed into a lioness looking after my tiny cub
Bianca
She recalled while having a C-section expressing concerns to her mum about “if I’m going to have a connection” with her daughter, Blake Sunshine.
Bianca continued: “But then I came back around and when I looked at my baby I thought, ‘she amazing’ and I felt this protectiveness.”
While balancing new motherhood with then-fiance Arron Wright, she went on Celebity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which she described as “one of the worst experiences of my life”.
Bianca said: “I had just had a C-Section, I had antenatal depression, was the most unfit I had ever been and my hormones were all over the place but I am proud of myself because I still did it.
“I had such a bad pregnancy. My hormones were horrific. I was missing my daughter so much because she was only four months old.
“At the time it was one of the worst experiences of my life but looking back now it was one of the best experiences of my life apart from having my baby daughter.”
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Last month, the mum revealed she and fiance Arron had split up after three years together – with a source describing it as a “tough decision for them both”.
Typical of the strength that’s characterised much of her life, Bianca has embraced the challenge and come out of the other side stronger.
“Though I never wanted to be a single mum, you have to make the best out of the situation, and Blake Sunshine’s happiness comes first,” she told The Sun.
“These days, I feel like a super-mum – my time on Celebrity SAS left me feeling so powerful.”
Bianca admits that motherhood has helped to imbue her with “loads of inner confidence” and believes it’s a role she was always destined to play.
“I’m also much more comfortable in my own skin now,” she told us. “When my daughter was born, it was like I transformed into a lioness looking after my tiny cub.
“Blake Sunshine and I have the strongest bond – it’s the two of us together taking on the world.”
Harrods has not responded to requests for comment since Bianca Gascoigne’s claims against Mohamed Al Fayed have emerged.