Genevieve Chenneour chose fight over flight.
Months after a thief attempted to steal the Bridgerton star’s phone at a shop in London and she promptly fought them off, she shared insight into the experience, claiming the footage of the event—which sees her forcibly retrieve her phone from the thief—surprised even her.
“When I first saw it, I was shocked because I didn’t even remember my reaction and I thought it was way longer than it was,” Genevieve shared during a June 12 appearance on the UK’s This Morning show. “That moment before anything happened, I thought it was about 20 seconds but it was milliseconds.”
In the security footage shared during her appearance on the morning show, Genevieve—who plays Clara Livingston in the Netflix series—is seen wearing sweats sitting on a stool at a counter with her phone sitting on a surface next to her. Meanwhile, the thief, who is dressed in all black with their hood up, attempts to slyly reach around her and swipe her phone.
However, the 27-year-old quickly notices and confronts the individual—who was identified as 18-year-old Zacariah Boulares—pushing him against the wall until he drops her phone, at which point Genevieve continues to whack the thief as he falls to the ground.
Boulares pleaded guilty to stealing Genevieve’s phone last month when he appeared in Westminster magistrates court. He has 12 previous convictions based on 28 offenses, the Sunday Times reported, citing Westminster Magistrates’ Court. E! News has reached out to London authorities regarding the status of Boulares’ latest crime but has not yet heard back.
“I had a bit of a sixth sense that something wasn’t quite right,” she explained. “As a woman you have that kind of intuition and I could feel people moving around me in a different way but I only became aware of it once the incident had happened in hindsight.”
Genevieve admitted that the thief was not entirely discreet about their objective.
“They were going back and forth trying to find a target,” she explained. “They chose me.”
And while the incident was partially caught on camera, Genevieve explained that the experience went on for a lot longer, noting that she ended up pinning Boulares to the ground and that he threatened to stab her.
“I thought that was a normal reaction and then I realized a lot of people would just let them take the phone.” she added. “It was just a life-changing crazy moment.”
