A FORMER Playboy model has claimed that disgraced influencer Andrew Tate tried to lure her to his compound in Romania before his arrest in a rape and trafficking probe.

Carla Howe, 32, told friends the former kickboxer and Big Brother contestant sent her "controlling and aggressive" messages.

The blonde model said she believes she had a "lucky escape" after Tate was arrested this week in Romania as part of a probe into claims of rape, human trafficking, and organised crime.

Tate, who was born in Washington DC but grew up in Luton, was arrested along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women.

The two women turned out to be Tate's model girlfriend and an ex-police worker, who were seized alongside him at their luxury Romanian mansion.

They are accused of keeping six women imprisoned under 24-hour "house arrest" in their home on the outskirts of the Romanian capital Bucharest.

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The six women were allegedly forced to make porn videos and weren't allowed to leave the house.

Carla told pals that she believes she was one of the intended victims of the influencer, as his tactics were chillingly similar to the actions allegedly carried out on the six women said to have been kept at his home.

She told friends: "He wanted me to go to Romania and I was tempted. It makes me think now how it could have gone terribly. I'd probably have ended up not leaving the house ever.

Carla claimed that when they first started talking online in February, Tate showered her with compliments and romantic messages.

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But the messages allegedly soon took a darker turn, becoming "controlling and aggressive".

She told friends he tried to ban her from going on holiday to Spain with a girlfriend, insisting that she had to "obey" him.

As they continued talking, Carla said Tate asked her to fly out to Romania to visit him.

She told the 35-year-old that she couldn't "come to another country to meet someone I've never met".

But later, she reconsidered and agreed with a friend to travel out in August.

Tate was banned from Instagram, bringing an abrupt end to their conversation, and preventing Carla from flying out to the Eastern European country to see him.

Things could have turned out very differently if I had gone

She told friends: "I had a lucky escape. I thought I would give him a chance and was tempted to have a relationship with him."

Carla added: "Things could have turned out very differently if I had gone – I hate to think."

And she was left horrified when the extent of the charges against Tate came out this week.

Romanian investigators began probing into Tate after the US embassy in Bucharest raised the alarm when they discovered that an American woman was being held against her will in the city.

The 22-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, managed to recover her mobile phone and call her boyfriend in the US, who alerted the embassy.

Carla moved into Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion with her twin sister Melissa back in 2011.

A friend told the Mail Online that Tate's "mysterious" movements meant he only made occasional short visits to London.

When Carla asked Tate why he never stayed for long, he told her: "Because I'm in and out. Like a ninja businessman."

She also said his messages became jealous and possessive, despite them having never even met.

The friend said: "He said to her 'You better not cheat on me'. He told her she could not talk to men or go to a party and told her she had to stay in her hotel."

Tate also reportedly said things to Carla like: "You need to obey me. I'm your man."

The pair finally met for the first time just last month when Carla travelled to Dubai to act as a ring girl for Floyd Mayweather's fight with Deji Olatunji.

Tate was in the front row at the event, and a video of the moment they met was posted on TikTok.

However, Tate left the fight early after a brawl broke out in the arena and he and his entourage were ushered away.

As a result of the charges against him, Tate is now being held for 30 days in a "hellhole" Romanian prison cell.

Andrew and his brother built a sleazy Romanian empire allegedly off the back of a seedy webcam scam.

Tate broke his silence following his arrest on Friday, with his Twitter account being updated while he remains behind bars.

A tweet from the account reads: "The Matrix sent their agents."

Since then, his account has retweeted an Elon Musk tweet also referencing the sci-fi film.

Today, his account tweeted a cryptic message and a link to his personal website.

"The answer is out there," the tweet read. "It's looking for you. And it will find you if you want it to."

Tate's arrest and rape probe came days after he sparked a childish war-of-words with teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg over Twitter.

"Toxic" Tate was mocked for having "small d**k energy" by the Swedish activist after he goaded her with a tweet about his expensive car collection.

This triggered a bizarre video message response in which he ranted about Greta while wearing a red and gold robe, smoking a cigar, and holding pizza boxes.

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Both Tate brothers deny the allegations against them and are next week expected to appeal against the decision to hold them in custody.

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