Who is Molly-Mae Hague: A prominent British influencer and reality television star became the subject of heated conversation after her recent remarks about privilege and poverty on a podcast sparked massive backlash. Molly-Mae Hague, 22, slammed for her 'Thatcherite' celebrity views, issued an apology via a statement on Instagram after controversy brewed.
"When I say or post anything online, it is never with malice or ill intent," she wrote. "I apologise to the people that have been affected negatively or misunderstood the meaning of what I said in the podcast, the intentions of the podcast were only ever to tell my story and inspire from my own experience."
Hague, a beauty pageant model, is best known for her appearance on the fifth season of reality show Love Island, on which she was a runner-up. She enjoys a following of over six million on Instagram.
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Know Who Is Molly-Mae Hague And Why She Is Embroiled In Controversy
The outrage against Hague has built online following her statements on The Diary of a CEO podcast, created by British media personality Steven Bartlett, on which she was a guest in December 2021.
"You're given one life and it's down to you what you do with it. When I've spoken about that in the past, I have been slammed a little bit, with people saying, 'It's easy for you to say that, you've not grown up in poverty... for you to sit there and say that we all have the same 24 hours in a day, it's not correct'," Hague said, as quoted in reports.
"I understand that we all have different backgrounds and we're all raised in different ways and we do have different financial situations, but I do think if you want something enough, you can achieve it," she went on to add.
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Social media users slammed Hague for being "tone-deaf" to the issue of class divide.
"Molly Mae Hague does not have the same 24 hours in the day as a single mother with a full time job, such a dangerously ignorant statement to make that everyone has the same 24 hours in a day," one Twitter user wrote. "Imagine Molly Mae Hague working a 9 hour shift at macdonalds… she’d be WIPED tf out by hour 4 I guarantee you," said another. "Molly Mae Hague needs a reality check. Yes we are all “given the same 24 hours” but if you’re e.g living in extreme poverty and working several jobs to make ends meet, progressing in life is very difficult," one tweet read.
Hague is also an entrepreneur, having started her own cosmetics and skin brand Filter. She is also the creative director of clothing label PrettyLittleThing, as per her profiles.