Kaz Crossley has broken her silence after being detained in Dubai, taking to Instagram to 'tell her truth'.
Last week, the former Love Islander was arrested at Abu Dhabi airport on suspicion of drug offences while waiting for a connecting flight to Thailand. The 28-year-old was transferred to a Dubai prison, where she could have faced at least three months behind bars. In 2020, a leaked video of Kaz snorting lines of white powder while holidaying in Dubai appeared online – and it had been reported that this offence was the basis of her arrest.
Addressing her 1.1m followers via an Instagram reel, Kaz said she 'owed' it to herself and her fans to get closure on the situation and that she was 'ready to move forward'.
She recalled, 'In 2020, I was in Dubai. I was filmed - it was me in the video, no one forced me to do that. It was a time of my life where I definitely didn't love myself at all, probably. And this is reflected in what I was doing to my body and who I surrounded myself with.'
She added how the video later got leaked, going on to detail her ordeal while travelling to Thailand for volunteering work, where she has been building accommodation for at-risk youths for the past two years.
'I had an amazing job offer. I was so excited for this job offer guys, it was like my dream job and I was staying up all night researching and, yeah, I did not think about the transit in Abu Dhabi and that it would be an issue for me because, obviously, I wasn't thinking and... yeah, everything happens for a reason.
'I was then detained in Abu Dhabi and kept in custody from Monday through to Friday, which is when they released me.
'I was very accepting of the situation and I was ready for whatever was going to happen to me because, at the end of the day, I take full accountability. I don't lie. I said that that was me in the video and explained the situation, it was a long time ago,' she said.
Elsewhere in the reel, Kaz revealed that it had been an ex-boyfriend who leaked the video of her snorting lines of white powder, not a friend.
Who Is Kaz Crossley’s Ex Who Leaked The Video?
Kaz has not disclosed the ex-boyfriend in question. Taking to her Instagram Story to respond to speculation, she wrote, 'It was a relationship that I kept quiet'.
Did Theo Campbell Leak The Kaz Crossley Video?
No. Kaz dated fellow ex-islander Theo between March 2019 and February 2020, but confirmed on social media he was not behind the leaked video.
'It wasn't Theo!' she stressed on her Instagram Story. 'We are friends now and just filmed a show together so please stop sending him abuse.'
She concluded, 'Thank you for all the love on my recent story, love you all'.
Following Kaz's arrest, a a Foreign Office spokesperson said, 'We are in contact with the local authorities following the arrest of a British national in the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai recently relaxed its strict drug laws for first-time offenders, reducing potential penalties to a minimum of three months in prison and a fine of between £4,559 and £22,799. Previously, offenders would have faced a minimum of four years in prison for any drug use. After serving jail time, offenders are then deported and banned from returning to the UAE.
You can watch more of Kaz's volunteer efforts here:
According to reports, Crossley was refused a phone call to her family from the Dubai jail.
‘[Kaz] 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,’ a source told The Sun. ‘She was allowed to send just one email and wasn't even allowed to make a phone call. She messaged one particular friend whose email she could remember and asked her to inform her family that she was OK but had been arrested for drugs offences. The arrest wasn't because of anything she had on her. As far as we know it is all down to that video.’
The online reaction was mixed, with some lacking in sympathy for Crossley’s situation while others shared support for the former Love Island star. Many noted that she has been exceptionally philanthropic with her platform in the years since the video surfaced – and condemned the person who leaked it to the tabloids.
Grazia reached out to Kaz Crossley’s team for comment.