BBC star ‘detained in Dubai for two months’ as she recalls ‘hell’

An actress who appeared in BBC’s series Waterloo Road has revealed that she was detained in Dubai for two months after accidentally committing a crime.

Sofia Hayat who played Jones in Waterloo Road and appeared in the Indian version of Big Brother, has revealed that she was detained in the UAE after travelling there on holiday.

The actress, 39, revealed that she had accidentally broken strict defamatory laws after she fell out with someone who owed her money and threatened to expose them on social media.

She explained that she thought nothing of the interaction until her passport was seized at the airport.When she tried to fly home she was detained by the police for 12 hours.

After six hours of being held in a cell and six hours of questioning, she was released but forced to stay in the country without her passport.

The star has claimed the extended stay cost her £20,000 and she lost an additional £20,000 of income while away.

Speaking to MailOnline, the actress said: ‘Dubai is actually a hell hole. I expected a modern country full of glamour, wealth and all the amazing things it appears to be on Instagram and TikTok. That’s all a lie. I’ll never go back.

‘Being held like that is horrible. I was heartbroken and it was extremely lonely.

‘I was constantly cancelling clients because I couldn’t go home and worried all the time that I’d lose them. I couldn’t book a long-term place to stay because I had no idea how long I’d have to be there I was having trouble sleeping.’

She then revealed: ‘I had no idea I’d committed a crime until I contacted the public prosecutor.

‘I just wanted to go home.’

The actress flew to Dubai on December 28 but was unable to leave until months later.

‘They just threw me in a cell – they didn’t tell me anything.

‘When I asked what was going on, the policeman just told me to “shut up”. At first, I was having panic attacks. I was shaking and crying as they questioned me. They kept saying I’d threatened to expose a sex tape. I threatened to expose a name.’

‘In the end, they did let me go, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the country. Eventually, I coped by meditating – I just imagined myself in London laughing about being detained in Dubai.’

She said she had to pay for AirBnbs for two months and visit the police station once a week during her stay. Sofia was told that the penalty could have been jail time or a huge fine but at her hearing – which was all in Arabic – she wasn’t given a penalty and her passport was returned.

Sofia managed to fly home on February 26th and was charged £400 in visa fines at the airport for overstaying in the country.

‘I think the only reason I got out is because I have a British passport and I’m an ex-Bollywood actress,’ she concluded.