Bianca Gascoigne has revealed that her mother Sheryl became suspicious of Mohammed Al Fayed after he offered to buy her 16-year-old daughter a flat.
Last month, the model, 38, bravely told of the horror of being sexually assaulted by the former Harrods boss.
More than 250 women have contacted Harrods after being allegedly sexually assaulted or raped by Mohamed, who died last year.
In a new interview with MailOnline, Bianca spoke about the “red flags” that began to make her parents distrust Mohamed, and Sheryl, now 61, even arranged a meeting because “something didn’t seem right.”
Bianca started working for Harrods at the age of 16 as a shop floor worker, after leaving school, and said she initially felt “safe” in Al Fayed’s company because she had met him previously.
The Celebrity SAS star said Mohamed offered her the Harrods apartment to stay in so she could get to the airport quicker to catch a flight to Milan.
She recalled how the businessman showed up without warning and she “didn’t expect him in any way” to be there and “grabbed my hand and pulled out his private parts and tried to maneuver and push my head down,” before she managed to “move freely.”
Bianca Gascoigne has revealed that her mother Sheryl became suspicious of Mohammed Al Fayed after he offered to buy her 16-year-old daughter a flat.
In a new interview with MailOnline, Bianca opened up about the “red flags” that began to make her parents distrust Mohammed, and Sheryl even arranged a meeting (pictured in 2008).
Last month, the model, 38, bravely told of the horror of being sexually assaulted by the former Harrods boss, who died last year (pictured).
Bianca said: ‘I managed to sneak away. I don’t know how, but I was honestly very lucky at that time.
‘My mum knew something had happened because over the years I had probably given her an indication.
‘When Al Fayed offered me an apartment, where the abuse escalated, she went and met him.
“He offered to buy me a flat and my mother felt it didn’t seem right to him; the red flags were starting to appear, so she went and spoke to him, and I still didn’t manage to talk to her (about it) then. ‘
Bianca later told her mother what really happened recently, as she “didn’t want to upset anyone in the family.”
‘I’ve seen comments saying, “Why did you go to his apartment?” He offered me to stay there, but it was a company floor, not his own floor.
‘I was just a 16-year-old girl, but there are some people who say I deserved it. I’m in a big company, I work for Harrods and I’m going to work for them the next day, and he said, “Go and stay in the apartment because you have an early flight.” Never in a million years did I expect it to show up.
The TV personality said she believes being the daughter of footballer Paul Gascoigne helped save her at the time and the fact she was working closely with Mohamed’s colleagues at Harrod the next day.
Bianca, who gave birth to a daughter, Blake Sunshine, with ex-fiancé Arron Wright last year, said she felt compelled to speak out after seeing the bravery of other women coming forward and finding strength in being a mother too.
Bianca began working for Harrods at the age of 16 as a shop floor worker, after leaving school.
The TV personality said she believes being the daughter of footballer Paul Gascoigne helped save her at the time (pictured in 1997).
She said: ‘The assault was a long time ago, and it’s something I’ve put in a box and in the back of my mind. However, now that I’m a mother, I think “this shouldn’t happen,” and it happens a lot.
‘I feel like it has made a difference because thousands of women have messaged me, but anything I can do to raise awareness and help other women speak out so that this doesn’t happen as often in the future and for my daughter’s generation . .’
And he added: For me it is not closure, but the fact of trying to change my daughter’s future. The only thing that matters to me in my life is my daughter.’
Bianca is the latest victim to come forward after it was announced that Harrods is in the process of settling some of the 250 claims against Al Fayed.
The luxury department store said the women came forward following the release of a BBC documentary last month, which uncovered years of sexual abuse allegations against the former Harrods owner.
The Metropolitan Police said it has recorded 60 new allegations, in addition to 21 women who went to police between 2005 and 2023, including allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Aside from compensation claims, several law firms are also filing a lawsuit against Harrods on behalf of dozens of victims.
The group Justice for Harrods Survivors, which represents the accusers, said its lawyers were working with 147 women.
In a statement issued after the BBC documentary was first published, the company said: “We are absolutely shocked by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed.
‘These were the actions of an individual who intended to abuse his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also recognize that during this time his victims were failed and for that we sincerely apologize.
‘Today’s Harrods is a very different organization to the one Al Fayed owned and controlled between 1985 and 2010; seeks to put the well-being of our employees at the center of everything we do.
‘That’s why, since new information came to light in 2023 about historical allegations of sexual abuse by Al Fayed, our priority has been to resolve the claims as quickly as possible, avoiding lengthy legal procedures for the women involved.
‘This process is still available to any current or former Harrods employee; Visit https://response.harrods.com for more information.
“While we cannot undo the past, we are determined to do the right thing as an organization, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behavior is never repeated in the future.”