'It was me in the video': Love Island star Kaz Crossley opens up after release from Dubai arrest for 'drug offences'
23 February 2023, 21:11
Love Island star Kaz Crossley has admitted she had been captured on video snorting a white powder, following her release from jail in Dubai on drugs offences.
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The reality star, who appeared on the 2018 series of Love Island, was held in custody by authorities in Dubai for four days after she was detained at Abu Dhabi airport in transit for a flight to Thailand.
It comes after a video emerged of her snorting a suspicious white substance at a party in 2020. Her name was flagged to the United Arab Emirates authorities after the video surfaced, it is understood.
She said in an Instagram video: "I owe it to myself to get closure about this," and said she's "ready to move forward."
"So in 2020 I was in Dubai and I was filmed, it was me in the video," she added. "No one forced me to do that. It was a time in my life where I definitely didn't love myself at all. And this is reflected in what I was doing to my body and who I surrounded myself with."
"I wasn't thinking, I was then detained in Abu Dhabi and kept in custody from Money through to Friday which is when they released me."
"I was very accepting of the situation," Ms Crossley added.
Ms Crossley earlier told of the 'hell' she went through in jail in Dubai following her release, after being 'arrested on suspicion of drug offences'.
She told the Sun how she was not given a translator and had no idea why she had been arrested. She was allowed to send one email to her loved ones telling them she had been detained.
“They didn’t get me a lawyer or a proper translator. I couldn’t even have a shower," she said.
"I was locked up with 30 other women, and had no idea why I was there for days - nobody would help me. It was the most terrifying experience of my life.”
A friend added: “She’s very shaken up, the very worst thoughts were going through her mind.You see stories of Brits being banged up for years and years in these countries over drugs issues."
Ms Crossley's agent confirmed on Friday that she was set to be released.
"Kaz has fully cooperated with officials and is free to continue her journey," they said.
"Kaz was travelling through Abu Dhabi on her way to Thailand, where she was stopped by UAE police and taken in for questioning in relation to a matter that is not directly related to her but officials felt she could assist in their enquiries."
Read more: Love Island star Kaz Crossley 'jailed in Dubai on suspicion of drug offences'
A source previously told the paper: “She was looking forward to getting back to Thailand where she has been doing voluntary work and all of a sudden she is languishing in a Dubai jail.
“Everyone knows how strict they are about drugs over there. She must be terrified.
“She had only stopped off in Abu Dhabi to catch a connecting flight but her name has obviously raised a red flag.
“She was allowed to send just one email and wasn’t even allowed to make a phone call."
A Foreign Office spokesman said on Thursday: "We are in contact with the local authorities following the arrest of a British national in the United Arab Emirates."
