Molly-Mae Hague has apologised to those who were “affected negatively” by remarks she made about her background and privilege in a podcast.
The former Love Island contestant said in an episode of The Diary Of A CEO podcast, released last month, that “you’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it”.
Hague, 22, who is creative director of fast fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing, has said her comments were “never with malice or ill intent”.
In a post to her Instagram story on Monday, she wrote: “I wanted to come back online today as normal but I feel like before I do I just wanted to say this…
“When I say or post anything online, it is never with malice or ill intent.
“I completely appreciate that things can affect different people in different ways however I just want to stress that I would never intend to hurt or upset anyone by anything that I say or do.
“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.”
After a short clip from the interview went viral on Twitter, she was described by some on the social media platform as “tone deaf” and “Thatcherite”.
Hague made the comments on the podcast of entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, who is a judge on the TV show Dragons’ Den.
On Twitter, he said she faced a “double standard” as a young and successful woman and that his male guests did not have to “tip toe” around their successes.
Hague found fame when she coupled up with boxer Tommy Fury on ITV dating show Love Island in 2019 and has gone on to become one of the show’s most recognisable figures.
Her role with PrettyLittleThing is reported to come with a seven-figure salary.