Gisele to be ‘mugged’ in Rio extravaganza

SUPERMODEL Gisele Bundchen is to be ‘mugged’ as part of the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

Olympic organisers plan to include the ‘tongue in cheek’ dig at the city’s notorious street crime problem during Friday’s show at the Maracana stadium.

The opening ceremony – described as the ‘sexiest ever’ – will feature the 36-year-old Brazilian strutting in to the bossa nova hit Girl From Ipanema.

Watched by an estimated billion TV viewers globally, the mother of two will walk 300ft on a make-believe beach before being approached by a child actor who pretends to mug her. Bundchen, who is coming out of retirement to help launch the Olympics, will give a ‘message of peace’ and embrace the street criminal.

The scene – which comes amid unprecedented security in the Brazilian city – is said to have ‘captivated’ an audience of carefully chosen volunteers at a dress rehearsal. Muggings in Rio are a hugely sensitive issue with athletes among those attacked during the Olympic build-up. The ceremony will also feature 6,000 scantily clad men and women in a nod to the Rio Carnival and the country’s love of samba.