Genevieve Chenneour opted for bravery over retreat. Months after a daring attempt by a thief to snatch her phone in a bustling London shop, the "Bridgerton" star valiantly fought back. Now, she has opened up about the harrowing experience, revealing that even she was astounded by the footage—which captures her forcefully reclaiming her phone from the perpetrator. "When I first laid eyes on it, I was taken aback because I had no recollection of my immediate response, and it seemed to me that the encounter lasted much longer than it actually did," Genevieve confessed during a June 12 appearance on the UK's "This Morning" show. "In that fleeting moment before anything unfolded, I thought it stretched to about 20 seconds, but in reality, it was mere milliseconds."
The security footage, shown during her morning show appearance, depicts Genevieve—who portrays Clara Livingston in the Netflix series—clad in sweatpants, perched on a stool at a counter, with her phone resting beside her on a nearby surface. Meanwhile, the thief, dressed entirely in black with their hood pulled up, tries to sneakily reach around her to snatch her phone. However, the quick-thinking 27-year-old immediately notices and confronts the individual—later identified as 18-year-old Zacariah Boulares—pushing him against the wall until he drops her phone. Undeterred, Genevieve continues to strike the thief as he falls to the ground.
Boulares pleaded guilty to stealing Genevieve's phone last month during his hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court. According to the "Sunday Times," citing the court, he has a record of 12 previous convictions stemming from 28 offenses. E! News reached out to London authorities regarding the status of Boulares' most recent crime but has yet to receive a response.
"I had a premonition that something wasn't quite kosher," she elaborated. "As a woman, you develop that kind of intuition, and I could sense people moving around me in an unusual manner, but I only became fully aware of it in hindsight."
Genevieve admitted that the thief was far from subtle in their intentions. "They were scouting around, trying to pick a target," she explained. "And they chose me."
While the incident was partially captured on camera, Genevieve clarified that the ordeal lasted considerably longer, noting that she ended up pinning Boulares to the ground and that he threatened to stab her. "I thought my reaction was par for the course, but then I realized that many people would have just let them take the phone," she added. "It was a life-altering, surreal moment."
