Chris Evans’ rumoured girlfriend, Alba Baptista, has revealed that a man tried to abduct her when she was 10.
The 25-year-old actor recalled the attempted abduction during a recent interview with Portugal-based magazine Nova Gente, which has been translated from Portuguese to English. She explained that it happened while she was at a store in Scotland, having been stationed in the UK to “do a program”.
“There was a day when we were exploring the city and I was in a store, in line, to buy a t-shirt for my father, and a 50-year-old man was by my side and offered to pay for the t-shirt. I told him it wasn’t necessary and thanked him,” she explained. “Then he told me: ‘Look, I have a much better t-shirt in the car.’”
Baptista explained that in her “innocence,” she told the man that “there are no cars here” before he told her “that the car was next door and not to worry”.
The Warrior Nun star then described how the stranger pulled her by the arm, but she managed to escape and went on to approach one of the teachers from the program.
“I must have a wonderful guardian angel, because the moment he was grabbing me by the arm and pulling me from the store, the teacher appeared at the door calling me. I ran to go to her,” she continued.
She added that as she was telling her teacher what happened, the man proceeded to follow her.
“I see the man breaking people’s line and looking at me, in hurricane mode, and it was right to me,” she continued. “My teacher went to warn someone and I was alone.”
Baptista said the man eventually “grabbed” her and “started going down the street” with her.
“He was always telling me that everything was fine and that we were friends,” she said. “I didn’t even know what to do. He was pretending he was my father, so people wouldn’t be surprised. Then I started screaming, telling him to leave me alone, and he started hugging me.”
The actor then recalled how she “looked back” and saw her entire class “running after” her.
“Everyone surrounded you and he had to let me go,” she said. “In the end, he said to me: ‘Don’t forget me!’”
She concluded her story by acknowledging how traumatising this experience was, adding: “This was serious, I don’t even want to think that the same may have happened to the other child.”
Baptista didn’t specify when this incident happened or if the police were involved.
This interview and revelation comes nearly one month after Evans seemingly confirmed that they were in a relationship. On his Instagram Story in January, the 41-year-old shared a few videos taken throughout the last year of him and Baptista scaring each other.
In November, a source told People that the pair had been dating “for over a year” and that their relationship was “serious”.
“They are in love and Chris has never been happier. His family and friends all adore her,” the source said.
