Love Island star Molly Mae, who was already an influencer before she entered the villa for the ITV dating show, has come under fire for her comments on a YouTube channel.
Speaking on Steven Barlett’s Diary of a CEO show, Mae explained how she became creative director of clothing brand PrettyLittleThing.
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The 22-year-old, who is one of the UK’s most followed people on Instagram, was quizzed on several aspects of her life, including her relationship with Tommy Fury – the contestant she left the Love Island villa with, who she’s been seeing since. She also opened up about a recent burglary which saw the theft of prized items.
But the part which ruffled many feathers included a segment on hustle culture and entrepreneurship.
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Citing the popular adage that ‘Beyonce has the same 24 hours as us’ as a motivator to just get things done, Mae told Barlett: “You have one life, it’s up to you what you do with it…I’ve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am today.”
Mae explained how she has had criticisms levelled at her in the past regarding this attitude, but doubled down saying: “Technically, that is correct, we do have the same 24 hours in a day.
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“We do all come back from different backgrounds and financial situations, but if you want something enough, you can achieve it.”
The comments hit a nerve, though, as many pointed out that while we do in fact have the same amount of hours in a day, our opportunities, socio-economic background and general positions in life vary to Mae, a millionaire.
Many pointed out on Twitter the myths of meritocracy that Mae seemed to be championing – showing that the playing field isn’t level for all.
I wrote an entire 10,000 word dissertation on the Class Ceiling and why working class people struggle to progress. But everyone has the same 24 hours in a day and opportunities according to Molly Mae so how can there ever be a class ceiling? 😍😌🥰 😳😳 https://t.co/Y0IOFk1Tin
Molly Mae won’t be the first to mention it nor the last, but this ‘meritocratic’ society everyone tries to present is utter bullshit. Your class status at birth will determine how far you go, not your work ethic.
Others questioned her role as creative director of PLT – a brand regularly criticised for its fast fashion – asking whether they could simply achieve their dreams by working as hard as her.
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Molly Mae’s 24 hours of the day include ignoring that she happily took on a £500k deal at Pretty Little Thing, which pays its workers in Leicester £3.50 an hour and kept them working through the first lockdown. Garment workers in the UK have one of the highest Covid death rates.
And many, many more simply pointed out how ridiculous the whole “we all have the same hours in the day” idea is.
The Molly Mae thing goes beyond influencers. I’ve listened to people who have two jobs and still can’t pay the bills make similar arguments.* Most people are emotionally attached to the idea that hard work reaps rewards. How to address that is complex and not easy to answer.
Molly Mae is a prime example of how influencers promote individualist narratives and a very right-wing world-view. Thatcherite talking-points dressed up in “inspirational” influencer speak
I’m going to be honest and say I didn’t expect more from Molly Mae. No disrespect to her, she’s great in the lane she’s in but critical analysis of class, privilege etc was not something I was banking on from her. There’s people out there who DO get it though.
As someone who’s both worked jobs in retail and offices as well as doing Instagram sponsored post bits I cannot listen to Molly Mae claim that she’s worked her arse off because one thing feels like working hard at a job and the other quite simply does not
Molly Mae’s age doesn’t make her exempt from critique. Many people her age and younger understand poverty can’t be eradicated by everyone using their 24 hours of the day better🥴
After the result of the public vote was announced, Millie and Liam had to decide whether to stick or split the cash prize.
Millie received the envelope with the money but decided to split it with Liam. meaning they took home £25,000 each.
Speaking after their win, she said: “I cannot believe we have just been crowned the winners of Love Island. We have literally had the summer of our lives and we are going to leave here and now explore our future together.”
During an interview with host Laura Whitmore, Liam also asked Millie to officially be his girlfriend.
The couple had a rocky journey in the Love Island villa, with Millie previously calling things off with Liam when she discovered he had been unfaithful to her with Lillie Haynes during the Casa Amor twist.
Meanwhile, during their final interviews, Toby joked that describing his relationship with Chloe as a “massive journey” was an “understatement” after the pair also broke up and then got back together during the series.
It’s official, the summer of love is nearly over as the sun sets on Love Island 2021.
After a somewhat slow start, this series finally lived up to its high expectations and provided us with some much-needed TV gold over the last few weeks.
From the iconic Casa Amor recoupling, to couples being on-and-off (and on again – we’re looking at you, Chloe and Toby), series seven has brought drama, an abundance of love and one very questionable talent show.
Ahead of Monday night’s grand finale – where one couple will walk away with the £50,000 prize fund – here’s a roundup of our favourite viral moments that we’re still *puts on Lucinda’s voice* reallllllyyyy obsessed with…
1. Hugo’s recoupling speech
One of the most fiery fire pit moments this year was undoubtedly Hugo’s speech after Toby coupled up with Abi instead of Chloe. It marked the turning point of the series, as we saw our first real glimpse of drama.
Throwing a number of shady comments at his fellow islander Toby, Hugo said of Chloe: “She doesn’t deserve to be treated how she has been this past 24 hours.”
His speech was obviously met with some iconic facial reactions from the Islanders, which were immediately turned into memes.
2. Mary and Millie’s talent show efforts
Picture this – it’s Christmas Day and your cousins are performing their talent show to your family… oh wait, you don’t have to imagine after this particular Love Island moment.
From a rendition of Grease’s You’re The One That I Want, to two semi-pro footballers showing their (lack of) tricks, the Love Island 2021 Talent Show scene was jam-packed with debatable ‘skills’.
However, the real stand-out acts for us were Millie and her keyboard take on Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, and Mary’s tap dancing, both of which left the fellow Islanders – and indeed viewers – speechless.
3. Faye trying her hardest to be unbothered at AJ’s arrival
All the other girls were peeking over the terrace to get a first look, but Faye remained the queen of reactions as she filed her nails and emphasised how unbothered she was: “I’m not bothered at all, AT ALL.”
We totally believed her…
4. Rachel slides head-first into a fence
A rare moment of silence fell in the Line of Booty challenge as Rachel was whisked off her feet, but sadly not by Brad.
Coming down the slide at speed, we saw Rachel going head first into the fence and later recalling the event as “tragic”.
— Stephanie Soteriou 🛸 (@StephanieRiou) July 8, 2021
Luckily, she was OK, but we can still feel the pain.
5. Toby’s unusual reaction to losing Sports Day
The internet was left confused when Toby’s immediate reaction to his team losing Sports Day was to start lifting weights.
However, we weren’t the only ones left baffled as many of his fellow islanders were also unsure as to what was going on.
6. Priya getting the ick from Brett over… Brie?!
Now we’ve heard of a lot of reasons for getting ‘the ick’ but being put off by thinking your partner’s favourite cheese was Brie? Well that is unheard of.
Cheese-lover Priya struggled to picture a future with Brett as she thought his choice of favourite cheese was quite boring. Maybe it’s a Gouda idea to start choosing our partner’s based on their favourite cheese from now on?
FYI, Brett later confirmed that he never said that and in fact he isn’t really a fan of cheese at all.
7. Hugo’s job being “done”
Many of us would probably love to hear some words of encouragement or affection after our first kiss with a new partner. However, Hugo took a slightly different approach after locking lips with Amy in Casa Amor… and we wouldn’t recommend it.
The PE teacher thought the statement “Job done” was the perfect way to win someone over. Spoiler: it didn’t turn out that way.
8. Lillie gets her moment
The nation’s jaws collectively dropped when Lillie entered the main villa to deliver some home truths about what Liam had been up to in Casa Amor.
Never before has an Islander made such an impact in such a short space of time. A Love Island legend.
9. The record-breaking amount of times Jake called Liberty his GIRLfriend
Some would say that Jake had an obsession with having a girlfriend after the amount of times he’s mentioned the G-word.
After a rocky few weeks of their relationship, it seemed as though Jake’s preferred method of reassurance was repeatedly stating Liberty was his “GIRLfriend”.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be for the couple, who ended up leaving the villa after splitting days before the final.
10. This culinary monstrosity
You know what they say, food is the way to the heart. However, we’re not sure that Aaron’s choice of a Halloween DIY-looking carrots in hummus is quite what is meant by that.
The carrots in question were unpeeled and wedged vertically into a bowl of the dip, leaving them looking like inedible witches fingers.
Rachel made us question our French GCSE after she described Coq au Vin as ‘duck with wine’ to Brad.
The mistake didn’t seem to go unnoticed with viewers, as social media flooded with the correct description for the dish, which is actually chicken braised in wine.
We have to give Rachel a A+ for confidence though.
12. Shannon’s brutal dumping
This year’s contestants were prepped for the summer of a lifetime, but for OG Islander Shannon this was not the case – in fact she was packing her case after just one day in the villa.
After the mandatory two-week quarantine before entering the villa, we can only imagine how it felt being dumped after day one.
13. Georgia. That’s it.
After Hugo was stuck on ‘Friend Island’ for the majority of his time in the villa, viewers were glad to finally see the arrival of Georgia, who had her sights firmly set on Hugo and Hugo only.
Despite being the third girl to make Hugo’s rejection list, Georgia’s short stint in the villa consisted of elocution lessons with Lucinda, bringing the sequins and the inspirational message “Never meet your heroes” – and to be honest, we’re not mad about it.
14. Millie’s comedy timing
You can always count on Millie to keep it 100% real, and let’s be honest her comedic inputs have been up there with the best of them during her time in the villa – case in point, this moment from Unseen Bits.
Is it a bug? No, Millie simply humbled her Chloe by calling her a mug for taking Toby back after their on-and-off romance. We have to say the timing was 10/10.
15. Hair horror
The Undercover Lover challenge wasn’t only very messy but it also left the girls in need of a trip to the hairdressers, as the vibrant slime and accidentally dyed their hair all the colours of the rainbow.
16. Chloe’s Beach Hut entries
Chloe has brought many iconic one-liners to the table this series, often from her Beach Hut entries.
She has offered hilarious commentary on the day-to-day twists and turns in the villa, and who could forget her “very muggy” speech that came after Toby’s head started to turn?
While she proved to be a slightly Marmite character at the beginning of the series, many of us can now agree that Chloe has carried the humour of the show and we love to see it.
Love Island continues on Sunday and Monday at 9pm on ITV2.
The pair went Instagram official on Friday evening, as they both shared loved-up snaps with their followers.
Maura, who appeared on the 2019 series of Love Island, posted a photo of them embracing by the sea, captioning the photo: “I’m yours” and adding a love heart emoji.
Giovanni, who has appeared as a dancer on Strictly since 2015, posted a similar photo and wrote: “You’re mine.”
The pair had been linked in the press in recent weeks, following Maura’s split from fellow Love Islander Chris Taylor.
Earlier this week, she shared a photo on her Instagram Stories showing her holding the hand of an unknown man at dinner, prompting her followers to speculate that it was Giovanni’s.
Laura Whitmore sounds the alarm for the return of Love Island in the first teaser for the new series of the ITV2 dating show.
The host swings a pink mallet to smash the heart-shaped glass on an alarm, which reads: “In case of Love Island, crack on.”
Dressed in a red jumpsuit and sunglasses, Laura, who recently gave birth to her first child with husband Iain Stirling, the show’s narrator, smiles at the camera before taking a swing.
The 10-second promo ends with the words: “This is not a drill!”
The dating show is returning to the screen for the first time since February 2020 after the summer series was cancelled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The first ever winter series was won by Paige Turley and Finley Tapp.
Another teaser for the new series shows a camera zooming in on the licence plate of a 4×4 which typically carries the new arrivals to the villa.
The plate reads LOV3.
The new series has been filmed adhering to government guidelines surrounding Covid-19.
The teaser will be shown during the first episode of The Masked Dancer, which starts at 7pm on Saturday on ITV and the ITV Hub.
Love Island returns this summer on ITV2 and the ITV Hub.
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Click ‘Learn more‘ to learn and customise how Verizon Media and our partners collect and use data.
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Click ‘Learn more‘ to learn and customise how Verizon Media and our partners collect and use data.
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Click ‘Learn more‘ to learn and customise how Verizon Media and our partners collect and use data.