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Cleo Smith’s mum has given insight into what her daughter endured during the 18 days she was missing.

In an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes, Cleo’s mum, Ellie Smith, and stepfather, Jake Gliddon, have spoken out about the 4-year-old’s kidnapping.

Cleo was abducted from her family’s tent in the early hours of October 16, 2021 at the Quobba Blowholes Campsite in Western Australia.

Her disappearance sparked a massive search and gained international attention.

She was eventually discovered by police on November 3 at a home in Carnarvon, just over 80km from where she was taken.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, was arrested the same day Cleo was found.

Now, Smith has revealed what her daughter told her about the 18 days they were apart.

“She told us that she was scared,” Smith told reporter Tara Brown.

“She was locked in a room and she was scared and she didn’t know where we were.”

Kelly has since pleaded guilty to forcibly taking a child aged under 16 and faced Carnarvon Magistrates Court in late January via video link from the maximum security Casuarina Prison in Perth.

The matter was committed to the WA District Court for a sentence mention in March.

Smith said Cleo has been coping extremely well with the attention.

“She loves it,” she told Brown.

“We were in Perth and someone went up to her and they’re like: ‘Hi Cleo’, and she was like: ‘Hi! Hello!’

But the youngster also doesn’t quite understand the situation.

“We walked away, and she was like, ‘Mum, how does she know my name?'” Smith continued.

She also spoke of how it sunk in her daughter had been taken.

“I felt like my heart was … it told me, like, she’s not here, she’s not going to run into my arms today. She’s not going to run down a sand dune,” Smith said.

“She was basically nowhere near me and that was the second I realised that someone had her and both my head and my heart connected to that. Someone has taken her and someone had my baby.”

Smith revealed her daughter’s first words were, “hi mummy”.

“Cleo got onto the phone and she’s like ‘hi mummy’, and I was like ‘hi baby’,” Smith said, adding: “It was such a beautiful moment.”

When police found the youngster, her first words were to them were, “My name is Cleo” – which caused a global sensation, with millions around the world following the story overwhelmed with relief she had been found safe and well.

The 60 Minutes interview with Tara Brown was conducted via video call as a result of Western Australia’s strict Covid lockdowns.

It reportedly netted the family A$2 million, setting a new Australian TV record.

It is understood the deal includes a miniseries or documentary as well as stories across Channel 9’s website and papers.

Cleo herself is not believed to be involved in the interview, and detectives involved in the case have also declined to participate, according to the West Australian.

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