Bianca Gascoigne says she was groomed and sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al Fayed

Reality TV star Bianca Gascoigne has bravely come forward with claims that she was sexually assaulted by Harrods owner, Mohamed Al-Fayed when she was a teenager

Bianca Gascoigne has claimed that she was groomed and sexually assaulted by Mohamed Al-Fayed while she worked at Harrods when she was a teenager.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins star Bianca, 37, who is the daughter of football legend Paul Gascoigne, revealed that she visited the luxury department store in Knightsbridge several times when she was younger with her parents.

Bianca claims that whenever she and her mum and dad visited the luxury department store, Egyptian businessman Al-Fayed would be 'charming' and bring them gifts.

Bianca went on to join a team working in Harrods by the time she was 16-years-old, and felt 'safe' in doing so given that she felt like she already knew Al-Fayed.

However, speaking publicly for the first time about her experience on The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee, mum-of-one Bianca claimed that things changed drastically once she started working under Al-Fayed.

The reality TV star claimed the Egyptian businessman would 'grope her' and 'force her to kiss him' on a weekly basis during their meetings. Speaking to host Sarah-Jane Mee, Bianca recalled feeling 'trapped' and 'frightened' while working at Harrods.

In particular, Bianca 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. Bianca claims Al Fayed turned up at the apartment and sexually assaulted her.

"Al-Fayed turned up at the apartment to my shock, I was just gobsmacked, I was kind of very shell-shocked," she recalled. "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 on to 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."

Bianca said that she lived with the secret for a long time because she was embarrassed and ashamed to tell anyone what was really going on. After joining Harrods as a shop floor worker, she was later upgraded and bagged her dream job as a fashion buyer.

"Obviously, I loved my job because it's exactly what I wanted to do - that was my dream," she said. "And, you know, 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."

Bianca was worried that if she spoke out against Al-Fayed, she would lose her dream job and be left with nothing, and she didn't want to disappoint her parents.

"Al-Fayed told me that if I would say anything that I would lose my job," she said. "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. I look back now and just feel very sorry for my 16-year-old self and wish I could protect her."

The reality TV star has decided to share her story in the hopes of other women having the bravery to come forward. Bianca said: "I feel like I have to do this, like I want to do this.

"I want to stand for the women and, you know, hopefully make any kind of change so that in the future my daughter won't have to go through something like this... and these predators won't be able to get away with what they are getting away with."

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.

On Monday Harrods said more than 250 people are part of its process to settle compensation claims over Al-Fayed's alleged sexual misconduct. The Mirror has contacted a Harrods spokesperson for comment on this story.

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