I'm terrified my attacker will seek revenge when he gets out of prison and am wracked with anxiety, admits Bridgerton star driven from London by phone thief
The actress, 27, appeared on Thursday's episode of This Morning to talk about the incident after the thief that tried to steal her phone was jailed for 22 months on Tuesday despite embarking on a 'ruthless' spree of thefts.
Genevieve was targeted by Zacariah Boulares, 18, at a Joe & The Juice on Kensington High Street, west London, while she was walking her dog on February 8.
Presenter Cat Deeley, 48, asked her: 'Does it worry you that the sentence is so short and he knows you were his victim and you have spoken out against him?'
Genevieve said: 'Yeah that's definitely an anxiety I have and something I didn't think about.
'He's meant to be going, well they are considering behavioral agreement in some way.
The actress, 27, appeared on Thursday's episode of This Morning to talk about the incident after the thief that tried to steal her phone was jailed for 22 months on Tuesday despite embarking on a 'ruthless' spree of thefts
'So he wont be able to access certain parts in London, and will be monitored and it could potentially be lifetime.
'So that would protect me and anybody else that he has harassed.'
Host Ben Shephard, 50, asked: 'What has the lasting impact been on you?'
To which Genevieve replied: 'A lot of anxiety...
'I left London because I am single and the level of anxiety of going to public spaces was just not really sustainable.
'I decided to take some time out of the city and come back and forwards for work.'
After the thief got his hands on her phone, the TV star decided to bravely fight back and Ben was interested to know if in hindsight she thought now if she should have just let him take the device.
Genevieve said: 'I didn't choose to respond like that.
'Obviously there is fight or flight and so I blacked out and don't actually remember my reaction.
'When I watched it back... I was like "I did that? What?!"
'So it was just an instinct to me, I just don't think I could have reacted any differently.
'I'm impressed with myself I did react like that.
'But yeah it definitely means that I have the additional trauma of getting into physical fight with someone who has been seen walking around with a machete.
'It's terrifying for me. Maybe I should have given him my phone, but that was just my reaction.'
Back in June the star appeared on the ITV show to talk about the ordeal.
Genevieve explained: 'It kind of went round the corner and it turned into a full-on scrap with two people [Boulares and his accomplice].
'And I was threatened with being stabbed so it became a real matter, in my mind, of 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… It was just a life-changing, crazy moment.'
The star admitted the horrifying experience left her terrified in the immediate aftermath: '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.'
Genevieve has played Miss Clara Livingston in Bridgerton since 2024.
She has also starred in Trigonometry, Avene 5, Britiannia and The Gentleman.
Not only that, she's appeared in various films.
Some include Munich – The Edge of War, Phantom of the Open and 1242: Gateway to the West.
She's also been in a number of music videos for Callum Scott, Fredo and The Magic Gang.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
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