Spoilt travel blogger is mistaken for a prostitute as she swaps five-star luxury for life on the streets in Rich Kids Go Homeless
MORE accustomed to five-star accommodation when she’s travelling to Thailand, Rome, Dubai or Greece, travel blogger Rukaya Mirza has to swap luxury for sleeping on the streets.
Taking part in 5STAR’s Rich Kids Go Homeless, the 25-year-old influencer is left scared when she is mistaken for a prostitute and is forced to go without food, as she lives rough for three nights.
The privileged fashionista who believes it’s “important to be immaculate”, lives with her parents in a seven-bedroom palatial mansion in Cheshire, doesn’t pay rent and has enjoyed a private school education.
She’s travelled the world on the bank of mum and dad, regularly sharing glimpses into her lavish lifestyle with her some 27,000 followers on Instagram.
Believing homelessness can be solved if you are willing to work to turn your life around, her strategy is to get a job and find shelter during the experiment.
However Rukaya comes up against a few obstacles when she turns up in the borough of Victoria, London.
She makes pals with a homeless woman named Rita, who warns her of the dangers of being attacked while sleeping rough.
Straight-talking Rita tells her: “Basically you wouldn’t last five minutes. I’m being straight with you. You have to be strong and in power.”
The 25-year-old receives unwelcome attention from two different men when she’s forced to sit on the street asking strangers for money – and is offered money for sex.
She’s left feeling uncomfortable when a homeless man named Chris sits down next to her and begins stroking her hand and patting her head telling her “you’re so gorgeous”.
Rukaya can only utter a pleasant “thank you” in a bid to avoid any confrontation, before another man approaches her and implies he can offer money for sexual favours.
“You’re quite the citizen you ain’t ya… I can tell by your face you’re an innocent lady,” he says as Rukaya tries to ward off his advances.
She eventually escapes the upsetting situation, after leaving behind her pot of change with Chris.
Rukaya tells the cameras, who are there to observe and only interfere if her situation turns dangerous: “I’m actually scared of that guy, I’m really not getting a good vibe off this.
“What just happened was actually my greatest fear of coming out on to the street. He was trying to touch me…I could smell a lot of alcohol on his breath.
“It’s a very sticky situation. I’ve learned today that things can go west very quickly,” she reflected.
Rukaya then spends a difficult few hours attempting to sleep on the stoop of a building on a quiet side street.
“I have done my Duke of Edinburgh silver and gold, so yeah I have slept in a tent outside in a sleeping bag.
“I wouldn’t say it’s exactly the same thing, but I guess I’m getting a real experience of doing it all on my own,” she says confidently.
But in the morning she admits “my heart was literally in my mouth” whenever she heard footsteps walk by.
Determined to not spend another night sleeping on concrete, Rukaya figures out a nifty business opportunity, asking tourists if they want their pictures taken in return for a small donation.
It doesn’t go well and after two hours she only has 20p.
“People cringed away from me before I’d even asked the question. Obviously holding homeless bags people saw me as a threat.
“It was my intention to work and I have tried so many things to earn money but it’s actually a lot harder than you think,” she complains.
Luckily for Rukaya she meets with homeless woman Shelly who helps her get into a church shelter for the evening, where she enjoys a hot meal and a shower.
After a near breakdown at the lack of food and on her third evening sleeping rough, Rukaya manages to bag herself a few hours work in a nearby restaurant, washing dishes in return for food and a tenner.
She has no where to sleep and refuses to bed down rough again, instead sitting and waiting in Victoria station until the morning.
A relieved Rukaya heads straight to a waiting cab after handing over her sleeping bag to a homeless person outside the station.
Reflecting on her experience she says: “I feel like I have learned a lot, I have been in very vulnerable situations…
“I’m so blessed to have even a bed to sleep on at night never mind a king size bed, I’ve got a home to go to and homeless people don’t and that deeply saddens me because I know how hard it is.”
It’s revealed that Rukaya later called Rita and the pair have since remained in contact.
Rich Kids Go Homeless airs on 5STAR, Wednesday at 9pm
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We previously shared how a millionaire trader was nearly stabbed as he swapped his lavish lifestyle for sleeping on the streets.
And a millionaire’s son, 24, who only wears Versace, spends £20k on holidays and has a maid shocks skint mum after asking what a colander is.