Molly-Mae Hague’s 2022 has got off to an eventful start after the former Love Island star was accused of being “tone deaf” and branded a Thatcherite following comments she made in an interview about wealth inequality and poverty.

The backlash was sparked after a clip was shared on Twitter from a recent interview Hague, 22, did with new Dragons’ Den dragon Steven Bartlett on his podcast The Diary of a CEO.

The tweet, which was captioned “If you’re homeless just buy a house,” was posted on January 5 and since then has amassed thousands of likes and been shared and retweeted countless times.

So what did Molly-Mae Hague actually say?

In the clip, Hague said: “I just think 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 in the past I’ve been slammed a little bit, with people saying, ‘It’s easy for you to say that, you’ve not grown up in poverty, you’ve not grown up with major money struggles. So for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct’.

“And I’m like, but technically what I’m saying is correct – we do.

“So I understand we all have different backgrounds and we’re raised in different ways and have different financial situations, but if you want something enough you can achieve it and it just depends to what lengths you want to go to get to where you want to be in the future.”

She added: “And I’ll go to any length. I’ve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am now.”

And who is she again?

Hague was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, to parents Stephen Hague and Debbie Gordon. She has an older sister called Zoe.

She took part in the fifth series of ITV2’s Love Island in 2019 where she finished runner-up with boxer Tommy Fury.

Is Molly-Mae Hague still with Tommy Fury?

As of January 2022, yes, they are still a couple and live together.

What has she done since Love Island?

Since finding fame on the reality TV show, the influencer has become a millionaire after earning over £500,000 in a year through lucrative brand deals and YouTube videos.

In addition to her impressive earnings, she reportedly also has £786,959 worth of assets which includes £777,179 in cash reserves.

Last August she was announced as the creative director of PrettyLittleThing. Aside from boosting her bank balance, the move also drew criticism as the fast fashion brand was found to be paying garment workers in Leicester just £3.50 per hour following a 2020 investigation by The Sunday Times.