Molly Mae Hague has officially broken her silence after facing serious backlash for her comments on hard work.
The Love Island star was heavily criticised after speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast as the recently appointed director of PrettyLittleThing.
Specifically, Molly Mae, 22, found herself subject to major controversy after saying we all have the "same 24 hours in a day as Beyoncé", and telling listeners: "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 to what lengths you want to go to get where you want to be in the future. And I’ll go to any length. I’ve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am now."
The influencer was silent for days after the podcast clip resurfaced and thousands described her comments as classist and "Thatcherite", and argued that she had refused to acknowledge her own privilege.
Finally returning to social media on Monday, Molly Mae issued a statement to fans via Instagram Story.
She wrote: "I wanted to come back online today as normal but I feel 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 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.
"Love to you all, always x"
When the controversy first struck, Molly Mae's representatives told Tyla: "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."
