‘Bridgerton’ Star Fights Back After Shocking Phone Theft originally appeared on Parade.
Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour is speaking out about a terrifying encounter that left her with a concussion.
Chenneour, 27, who played Clara Livingston in Season 3 of Netflix’s hit period drama, opened up about the February 8 incident during an emotional appearance on This Morning. Chenneour recalled the moment her phone was stolen from inside a Joe & The Juice café in London’s Kensington neighborhood, and how instincts kicked in when she decided to fight back.
“I had a bit of a sixth sense that something wasn’t quite right,” Chenneour shared. “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 when the incident had happened and in hindsight.”
The shocking scene was caught on security footage, showing the actress confronting the thief in an altercation that lasted nearly five minutes, and spilled out from the café onto the street.
“It just was an instinct,” she said of her decision to chase after the suspect. “I don’t know what came over me. I thought that was a normal reaction, but then I read all the comments and realized, actually, a lot of people would let them take the phone.”
Chenneour said her fight training from working on set, along with growing up with brothers, helped prepare her for the moment, even if it came with real risk. During the encounter, she says one of the suspects threatened to stab her “multiple times.”
“It became a matter of—in my mind—a matter of life and death,” she recounted. “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 a life-changing, crazy moment.”
The physical toll was real. Chenneour revealed that she suffered a concussion, and emotionally, the experience left a lasting mark.
“I didn’t want to go outside,” she admitted. “And as a woman, we already 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—made me quite acrophobic. Leaving the house was really hard.”
One of the suspects, Zacariah Boulares, has since pleaded guilty. And he’s no stranger to violence, having previously served time for threatening to behead Welsh singer Aled Jones during a Rolex robbery. Boulares, 18, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17 for the assault on Chenneour and another customer involved in the same incident.
But the second man Chenneour says threatened to stab her won’t be facing charges.
“The man that threatened to stab me will not be going to court and has been released due to lack of evidence,” Chenneour wrote in an Instagram Story following the ordeal. “I know karma will get him.”
Despite the traumatic incident, the actress expressed gratitude for those who helped her in the aftermath.
“I’m so grateful to the staff at Joe & The Juice. They were incredible during the incident and when I went back to see them after,” she shared.
Chenneour also took a moment to speak more broadly about what her experience represents.
“London has become increasingly dangerous, and this cannot be normalized,” she said. “I’m not just speaking for myself, I’m speaking for every person who’s had enough.”
‘Bridgerton’ Star Fights Back After Shocking Phone Theft first appeared on Parade on Jun 12, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
