Bianca Gascoigne details harrowing Mohamed Al-Fayed abuse after 'red flags'

TV star Bianca Gascoigne has claimed she was groomed and sexually assaulted by late Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed when she worked at the luxury departments store

Bianca Gascoigne has only recently detailed her experience working at Harrods to her family.

The TV star, 37, is the daughter of football legend Paul Gascoigne and worked at the high end department store when she was a teenager. Last month, Bianca claimed she was groomed and sexually assaulted by its late boss Mohamed Al-Fayed. She joined the team at the luxury department store in Knightsbridge when she was 16 and worked her way up in the company and became a fashion buyer.

The mum-of-one has previously claimed that things changed drastically once she started working under Al-Fayed. She claimed the Egyptian businessman would 'grope her' and 'force her to kiss him' on a weekly basis during their meetings. Bianca previously recalled one night where the businessman offered her to stay at Harrods Park Lane apartment before she needed to board an early flight in the morning.

She claims Al Fayed turned up at the apartment with no warning and sexually assaulted her. Bianca said she didn't expect Al-Fayed "in any shape or form" and "got my hand and got his privates out and tried to maneuver and push my head down." She claimed she was able to "wriggle free".

"My mum knew something had happened because over the years I’d probably given her an indication," she said in an new interview with Daily Mail. "When Al Fayed offered me an apartment, where the abuse stepped up a notch she actually went and had a meeting with him."

She added: "He offered to buy me a flat and my mum felt that it didn’t seem right – the red flags were starting to show, so she went and spoke to him, and I still didn’t manage to speak to her [about it] then." Bianca only recently opened up to her mother as she "didn't want to upset any of the family".

A string of allegations against Al-Fayed have emerged since the release of an investigation by the BBC. The Egyptian businessman died last year aged 94. The Metropolitan Police said it had 60 allegations against Al-Fayed since the BBC documentary, including claims of rape and sexual assault.

Those are in addition to the 21 women who went to the police between 2005 and 2023 with sex crime allegations against the businessman. Last month, Harrods said more than 250 people are part of its process to settle compensation claims over Al-Fayed's alleged sexual misconduct.

Bianca made an appearance on This Morning in October where she reflected on one of the "worst ordeals" of her life. The star added that the unpleasant occurrences made her feel "dirty" and "scared" to open up as she held back tears. When questioned why she didn't say anything at the time, she said: "There's a lot of aspects to it and I just felt very very ashamed. I felt dirty, I just kind of pretended that it wasn't happening. I just put it in a box and just moved on and tried to deal with it."

In a statement, Harrods said of the allegations surrounding Al-Fayed: "We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.

The Harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by Al Fayed between 1985 and 2010, it is one that seeks to put the welfare of our employees at the heart of everything we do. This is why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historic allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. This process is still available for any current or former Harrods employees - please go to https://response.harrods.com for further information.

"While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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