Nadia Bengala opens up about her daughter Diana’s legal troubles and struggles with addiction

Nadia Bengala talks again about the very difficult time she is living with her daughter Diana, who has been sentenced to ten months in prison for attempted robbery, attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. The former Miss Italy, invited today to Verissimo, talks about her pain.

Verissimo, guests of the weekend (Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October): the drama of the daughter of Nadia Bengala and Barbara Palombelli with Francesco Rutelli

«My daughter is reckless. She doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her. He doesn’t see that he is walking on the edge of a cliff. Little by little he is slipping into the abyss and from there he will never rise again»said the former Miss Italy to Corriere della Sera. And he asked the judges for help. “A sensitive and intelligent girl. However, the drugs are changing him, he slips into the abyss. To save her, the only way is to hospitalize her. A judge must take responsibility for ordering his compulsory hospitalization. It will never go of its own free will. And then it will be the end». Then he reiterates: “I alone cannot save her”.

Nadia Bengala, who is she?

Nadia Bengala was born in Syracuse on May 26, 1962 (she is 62 years old). In 1985, he participated in the TV show Zodiaco. At the age of 26, she recorded some episodes as a showgirl in the TV show Ok, the price is right!, hosted by Iva Zanicchi, and the same summer she signed the contract, participated in the selections of Miss Italy. In September 1988, Fabrizio Frizzi crowned her winner of the Miss Italy title. Then, for her came theater and cinema. After a few years off, the model resumed her career in 2004 and became a commentator on L’Italia sul 2. After participating as a contestant in the reality show Ritorno al presente in 2005, in 2009 he acted in Una vita violata, his last film. Afterwards, Nadia Bengala gradually distanced herself from both film and television, except for some short films shot between 2013 and 2020.

The reasons for leaving television

Nadia Bengala herself revealed the reasons why she distanced herself from the world of entertainment in an interview granted in 2017 to the weekly Oggi, in which she revealed some dramatic aspects of her private life. «Miss Italy cheated on me. I convinced myself that you could win by doing everything yourself, without pushing. It’s not like that – she explained -. I had endless obstacles, let alone little pushes. First of all men. They said they loved me, but they were only able to take. As soon as she got a chance, they made her disappear».

The political career

When he distanced himself from the limelight, Bengala devoted himself, for a time, to politics: in 2009 he stood in the European elections for the party La Destra. In 2021, he ran for the City Council of Rome, with a list supporting Virginia Raggi in the municipal elections. But she was never chosen.

Private life

As for her private life, we know that she was involved with a man named Otto Schivardi, with whom she had her only daughter, Diana, in 1996. The following year, however, their relationship ended. Since 2007, he maintains a relationship with entrepreneurs Alessandro Stocchi.

Nadia Bengala: “My daughter Diana needs help, drugs are changing her. I can’t do it alone, she has to be hospitalized»

Also on Oggi, the former Miss Italy revealed that she left her career because of some wrong relationships with possessive men: «I unleashed a morbid jealousy. Sometimes even violence. Only I know the beatings. I defended myself, I gave, but I received many»

The relationship with the daughter

At one point, the relationship with her daughter Diana deteriorated, as she herself explained to Domenica In: “My daughter disappeared a year ago, we argued because she loves a man 30 years older. I was a strict mother, maybe too present, maybe too hard being a mother and father». Bengal tried to recover, but apparently, there was nothing to be done.

Diana Schivani, the conviction: what happened

In 2024, however, the names of Nadia Bengala and her daughter are back in the limelight. His daughter Diana Schivardi is sentenced to 10 months in prison for damage, theft, attempted theft and assault. The 28-year-old was caught in the act while trying to steal cars in the Trionfale area, in Rome, and when a pedestrian intervened to stop her, she was assaulted. The former Miss Italy then revealed her daughter’s addiction problems, telling Corriere della Sera «Diana is a sensitive and intelligent girl. However, the drugs are changing him, he slips into the abyss». And he asked for help: «To save her, the only way is to hospitalize her. A judge must take responsibility for ordering his compulsory hospitalization. It will never go of its own free will. And then it will be the end». Then he reiterates: “I alone cannot save her”. A trial to which Diana, however, did not attend. “My daughter lives in her own reality, unfortunately. I dedicate every minute of my time to her. I do it with love, because she needs it. I explain it, but she is distant, I don’t think she understood the gravity of the sentence and the reasons behind it»

How is Diana?

And they listened to her. As a guest on the program Storie di Donne al Bivio, in September, the woman announced that the 28-year-old has entered a community: «She is better. Little by little and with patience we have achieved it». Although it was not easy to convince her to stay in the facility, now the worst seems to be over, also thanks to the fact that the former Miss Italy never left her daughter alone: «After I ran away from the hospital in March, I spent months always with her. I rented a room on purpose, I slept with her, I spent all my time with her, I hardly saw my partner because I tried to be with her as much as possible. Something that I could barely stand, but then little by little and with patience, we managed it»