Georgia Toffolo thanks The Sun for helping to save her from Maldives immigration detention centre in ‘terrifying’ ordeal
FORMER I’m A Celebrity winner Georgia Toffolo tonight thanked The Sun for helping to free her from an immigration detention centre in the Maldives.
She was held for eight hours in a steel shipping container after staff noticed a page in her passport was missing and declared the document “invalid”.
Georgia, known to fans as Toff, had arrived in the country for a Christmas getaway with her boyfriend – but later told how she feared spending Christmas locked up before Foreign Office officials finally intervened.
In an exclusive interview after being freed, she said: “It was terrifying.
“I was on my own, they took me to one side and said they wouldn’t let me in because a page from my passport was ripped.
“The next thing I knew I was taken away from the airport to a stack of three shipping containers where they detain people – and told me I would be there for four days.
“It was so frightening.
“They made me book the next return flight which cost me a fortune, and watched as I did it, but then said that they wouldn’t even let me go and get on it until I got replacement documents.
“I begged them to contact the embassy but they just said they were sorry but it is closed on a Saturday so I would have to spend perhaps a couple of nights there – and that they would give me a single room.
“But it was very intimidating, male dominated and scary – I had no idea what to do. I still feel sick at the thought of it all.”
Pals asked for our help as Toff, 25, posted a clip of herself sobbing on social media.
The Sun contacted the Foreign Office and asked for any assistance possible, hoping that media attention could spark more urgent action from officials.
She said: “After The Sun called the Foreign Office we got a call from the ambassador a short while later and thankfully I was eventually released.
“I know you put some pressure on them to speed things up and thank you so much for doing that.
“Christmas is back on – even if I’m slightly traumatised.”
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