Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour has revealed she is “taking a break from London” following a violent phone theft attempt that left her with a concussion.
The 27-year-old star, who played Clara Livingston in the Netflix series’ third season, was attacked at a Joe & the Juice coffee shop in Kensington on February 8.
Chenneour explained her decision to leave the capital after seven years following the incident, explaining on Thursday: “I’ve actually taken a bit of a break from London…
“I’ve been here for seven years, working, auditioning, acting, just to kind of have a bit of a reset because it really did affect my confidence,” she said.
The actress described how the traumatic incident had fundamentally changed her relationship with the city she had called home during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.
CCTV footage captured the moment a would-be thief attempted to snatch Chenneour’s phone whilst she sat in the coffee shop.
The actress, a former Team GB artistic swimmer and trained boxer, immediately confronted him.
“It became a real matter, in my mind, life and death. So, I did things like, I remember kicking him back with my leg to create space in case he had a weapon on him,” Chenneour told presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.
The situation escalated when the thief’s accomplice intervened. “The guy that walks up to me at the end was the man threatening to stab me multiple times,” Chenneour wrote on Instagram.
The physical altercation left the actress with a concussion just before the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The ordeal has had lasting psychological effects on Chenneour, who added: “I didn’t want to go outside.
“I mean as a woman we already, I think, have our wits about us around strangers and random men.
“So, to have this happen to me while dealing with that base level that a lot of women have, just made me quite agoraphobic. Leaving the house was really hard,” she revealed.
The actress described experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety when attempting to resume normal activities.
“Going out the first time [after the incident], I remember standing in a queue and just my hands were sweating and I was so vigilant and aware of my surroundings.”
Her Maltipoo, who was on a walk with Chenneour at the time, was also traumatised by the attack.
Zacariah Boulares, 18, is due to be sentenced with theft and assault charges in a court appearance on June 17.
The Metropolitan Police identified Boulares through surveillance footage from the coffee shop attack.
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He has pleaded guilty to assaulting Chenneour and another customer and will appear in court next week.
