Molly-Mae Hague has opened up about her thoughts on the viral comments she made about wealth inequality.
The Love Island star, 25, faced backlash for her 2021 interview on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett in which she said she ‘worked my a**e off’ for her wealth and that ‘everyone has the same 24 hours in a day’ to achieve.
The comments went down badly with some, with Molly-Mae accused of being ‘tone deaf’ and saying the comments smacked of privilege.
Reflecting on the comments in a new interview with British Vogue, the influencer has reflected on her comments and the backlash she received.
She said: ‘Obviously, I meant absolutely no malice or anything ill-intended by that comment at all. Would I have worded it slightly differently now? One-hundred per cent, as to not upset anybody.
‘But you’re not always going to get it right, living your life in the public eye.’
Molly-Mae Hague has revealed what she thinks now about THAT ’24 hours in a day’ comment as she reflected on her ‘tone deaf’ wealth inequality comments
The Love Island star, 25, faced backlash for her 2021 interview on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett in which she said ‘everyone has the same 24 hours in a day’ to achieve wealth
‘People find me quite controversial,’ she added.
The notorious interview was first shared on YouTube in December 2021, but only went viral the following month after a clip from the episode was posted on X, formerly Twitter.
In the clip, Molly said: ‘You’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it. You can literally go in any direction.
‘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 because you’ve not grown up in poverty, so for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct.” But, technically, what I’m saying is correct. We do.’
She went on: ‘I understand we all have different backgrounds and we’re all raised in different ways and we do have different financial situations, but I think if you want something enough you can achieve it.
‘It just depends on what lengths you want to go to get where you want to be in the future. And I’ll go to any length.’
She then added: ‘I’ve worked my absolute a**e off to get where I am now.’
After her comments went viral, footage also resurfaced of the star being left horrified after being asked to work a 12-hour shift in the PLT warehouse in order to experience what goes on behind the scenes.
After her comments went viral, footage also resurfaced of the star being left horrified after being asked to work a 12-hour shift in the PLT warehouse
A spokesman for the star told MailOnline at the time that Molly-Mae acknowledged people ‘are raised in different ways’ and ‘from different backgrounds’ and that she never meant to offend.
A statement read: ‘Molly did a podcast interview in December about her own rise to success. If you listen to the full conversation and interview Molly was asked about how the nature of her potential grows and how she believes in herself.
‘This part of the interview was discussing time efficiency relating to success. Molly refers to a quote which says “We all have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce”.
‘She was discussing her own experience and how she can resonate with this specific quote.
‘Her opinion on if you want something enough you can work hard to achieve it is how she keeps determined with her own work to achieve more in her own life.
‘Molly is not commenting on anyone else’s life or personal situation she can only speak of her own experience.
‘She acknowledges that everyone is raised in different ways and from different backgrounds but her comments here are in reference to timing, hard work and determination in her own life.’
‘If you listen to this interview you can see the whole conversation was about her own personal circumstances, how she has grown up and this small clip in the conversation was talking about a quote that inspires her.
Social media users have shared a short snippet from this interview with words such as ‘if you are homeless buy a house’ and “if you are poor be poor” these are absolutely not Molly’s words, these are not Molly’s thoughts and this isn’t at all the meaning or thought behind that conversation’.
See Molly-Mae’s full feature in the December issue of British Vogue available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 19 November (pictured: cover star SZA)