Reality TV star Molly Mae Hague has received widespread criticism following her controversial comments on poverty, inequality and privilege.
The 22-year-old influencer said she understood that “people have different financial situations” but insisted that “if you want something enough you can achieve it.”
“I’ve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am now,” she added.
Hague rose to fame on Love Island after competing in beauty pageants as a teenager. In 2019 she signed a deal with fashion brand Pretty Little Thing reportedly worth £500,000 and became the brand’s creative director in 2021, despite the company’s owner, BooHoo, facing modern slavery allegations after a Sunday Times investigation found it paid garment workers as little as £3.50 an hour.
The comments came in an interview on YouTube series The Diary of a CEO, where she states that anyone has the potential to be rich if they work hard enough as “we all have the same 24 hours in a day”.
Among those to speak out about the comments was BBC presenter Jessica Davies, who said: “I respect Molly Mae for making the most of her opportunity & grabbing it with both hands, but I DESPAIR at the quote about everyone having the same time in a day as Beyoncé. The reality is that social inequality means there’ll never be an even playing field”.