Arabella Chi is continuing with her day to day life in Dubai despite reports of ‘rising panic’ among other expats rushing to flee the Gulf state.
The former Love Island star, 34, moved to the to the UAE last year and was left terrified in the early days of the missile strikes in the region, intially telling her 1.2million followers how she was planning to ‘hide her family in a storage cupboard’ after clearing it out as a precautionary shelter for her brood.
But a day later the Influencer was back to regular content, and has spent the last week posting pictures from her romantic evenings out with her boyfriend Billy Henty and lounging by the pool with her baby daughter Gigi.
On Sunday Arabella hit the beach, snapping a series of photos with her daughter as she caught some sun in a white bikini. She captioned the carousel of carefree photos ‘sandy toes,’ making no mention of the ongoing unrest in her home city.
Arabella, who last week revealed why she still won’t move back to the UK, is one of the many famous faces who have continued to paint Dubai in a positive light, after the US-Israel war against Iran sparked chaos in the UAE.
But for some influencers and social media stars attitudes shifted as the region entered a second weekend of strikes.
UAE claims that Iran has fired 238 ballistic missiles at their territory since the US-Israeli strikes began, with 221 destroyed and only two reaching their destination.
However, Iran has also used its ‘suicide drones’ to launch attacks on the Emirates.
A night drone attack on two of Dubai’s most upmarket areas left one man dead and two residential skyscrapers in flames on Saturday.
Smoke plumed from the 88-storey 23 Marina tower building near Dubai Marina after it was hit by the debris from an intercepted Iranian drone.
Later, it emerged that a Pakistani driver was killed after material fell on his vehicle following a drone attack on the 19-storey Azayez Tower in the upmarket Al Barsha area.
Dubai International Airport was also forced to close on Saturday after a suspected Iranian drone strike triggered a huge explosion near the complex, with passengers ordered off planes.
Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison has shared an update with fans as she and husband Ercan Ramadan attempt to flee Dubai.
On Sunday Vicky, 32, revealed they had been driven a whopping 11 hours across the border to Oman amid the ‘rising panic’ in a desperate bid to finally fly home to the UK after their three previous flights were cancelled.
Vicky and Ercan abandoned plans to try to fly to Australia or New Zealand, but wanted to return home and be reunited with their beloved dogs Milo and Max as ‘quickly and safety as possible’.
Alongside snaps of their mammoth trip to Oman, she penned: ‘We’re so sorry for our radio silence over the last week, with everything unfolding the way it was and changing so rapidly we desperately didn’t want to say anything insensitive or hyperbolic that would add to the rising panic around the situation’.
‘We really appreciate all your messages of concern and just wanted to reassure everyone that we’re fine. After 3 cancelled flights and the realisation that we definitely weren’t going to make it on to Australia and New Zealand we wanted to try and get home as quickly and safely as possible’.
She went on: ‘I understand that there are a lot of people still in Dubai feeling really calm and safe however, we wanted to be back to our babies, work and normality and we felt like Oman was our best option’.
‘We made our way to Oman from Dubai with some of our friends via private transfer, we used this company @skyevipcarrental and found them to be professional, reasonably priced and comfortable’.
Vicky continued: ‘All in all, the journey took us around 11 hours, including around 2-3 hours at the border crossing, checking documents and passports and cost about £130pp’.
‘For anyone stuck in Dubai and wanting to get home via Oman, I will put more information on @vickysvacays.. I just don’t want to overwhelm or bore anyone on here. We are going to try and enjoy our last days away and explore Oman hopefully.
‘The last week has been quite unsettled and we understand people feeling unsafe and uncertain.. we have experienced moments like that, but ultimately feel like it’s important we acknowledge our position of privilege.
She added: ‘We are extremely grateful to be making our way home and are thinking of anyone feeling fearful or unsettled, anywhere in a world that is rapidly becoming an increasingly scary place to be.
‘Finally just a little Thankyou to @addressbeachresort and @uaegov for keeping us safe, calm and informed when possible. We will keep you updated and are looking forward to getting home in the next couple of days.’
Meanwhile an influencer trapped in a five-star hotel in Dubai has said Brits who have managed to flee the city ‘have been lucky’ as she faces a £3,000 bill in living expenses while she remains stranded.
Lily Mann, 25, arrived in Dubai with her boyfriend James Shires, 33, on February 26 with the intention of a week-long holiday.
The couple has since spent the last two days trying to navigate a way back home after their Etihad Airways flight to Manchester Airport was cancelled, leaving them to either pay upwards of £10,000 each for a one-way flight or to wait indefinitely.
They join the thousands of British travellers stranded in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes on Iran elicited retaliatory strikes by Iran across the region.
This comes as the UK has halved the readiness time for aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales ahead of a possible deployment to the region, it was reported on Sunday.
Ms Mann, who also works as a freelance social media manager, told the Daily Mail ‘the flights home are just not there’.
She said: ‘We have been very, very unlucky and people who have got out have been very lucky.
‘The few flights that are showing are business class or first class seats, which are coming up to around £10,000’.
This has forced them to continue staying in the five-star hotel FIVE Luxe JBR, with the holiday extension costing upwards of £3,000 in holiday costs and dog care.
