‘I’m so blessed in my life’
As she launches her first collection as creative director of Pretty Little Thing, Molly-Mae Hague talks about dealing with fame
Molly-Mae Hague has come a long way since she entered the Love Island villa back in 2019 aged just 19. The former beauty queen and her boyfriend Tommy Fury, 22, may have lost out on the £50,000 prize on the show, but she’s become the most successful Islander to date.
Along with 6.2 million followers on Instagram, the Hertfordshire-born star has a hugeYouTube following, a fake tan line and has recently announced her first book. She has also been appointed creative director of fashion brand Pretty Little Thing – a deal that’s said to have been worth seven figures.
But fame has come with its downsides. Molly and Tommy suffered a traumatic burglary at their Manchester home last autumn, and she recently sparked outrage for her comments about expecting everyone to be successful because we all have “the same 24 hours in a day”. But despite the criticism, Molly-Mae says she wouldn’t change a thing about her life.
“I’m not going to be able to keep six million people happy. It’s not physically possible. So I just do my best,” she explains.
The star also opened up on her YouTube channel about a pregnancy scare.“I was meant to come on my period like four days ago – it’s so late. I’m not going to lie, I did take a pregnancy test.
“I’m literally never late on my period but the pregnancy test was negative, obviously. I wouldn’t be sat here having this conversation if it was positive.”
Here, Molly-Mae, 22, chats about dealing with negative comments and how she spends her time off…
Hi Molly-Mae! Your career has taken off since
Would you ever want life to go back to normal?
Love Island.
No, I haven’t ever wished for my old life back. This life is everything I’ve dreamed of and more. I’m so blessed. The fans are the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. How blessed am I to have all these people who actually care about my life.YouTube is a massive thing for me, because to sit and watch a 25-minute video about someone’s week, people have to be invested.
What do you attribute your huge success to?
Even though my life has changed so much, I’m still the same girl. I’m still that girl that was absolutely over the moon when I hit 10,000 followers. I’ve always stayed true to myself and stayed very relatable. On my YouTube, you get the behind-thescenes of those glossy images you see on Instagram.You get the full nitty gritty. If Tommy and I have been bickering that day or if I’ve got bad period pains, I’ll tell you about it. I’m not hiding anything on my YouTube. I’m just a normal girl living this very different life.
Do you see yourself as a role model for young women who want to go into business?
I hope so, it’s amazing if I am. I think it’s really good to see a woman do well in the industry. Pretty Little Thing is a very female-based business and it’s amazing for me to work alongside these insanely talented women. I hope I show girls that being a woman doesn’t mean anything different, you can achieve anything.
How do you handle the intense pressure of being a role model?
With 6.2 million followers, it’s not possible to keep everyone happy. I do my best to be a positive role model, and with everything I say I put an extreme amount of thought into it.
I’ve got a lot of young followers that are extremely affected by the things I say, so I’ve got to be super careful. But I have had to accept over the last three years that I’m not going to be able to keep everyone happy. It’s not possible. So I just do my best.
You’ve just launched your first collection as creative director of Pretty Little Thing...
This collection is timeless. It’s unlike anything we’ve done before. It’s so elevated and these pieces are things I want girls to have in their wardrobe for months and years on end. We work really hard on our socials to produce content to show girls how they can rewear pieces so it’s not throwaway fashion.
How has PLT made strides towards sustainability?
We’ve been working on PLT Marketplace for well over a year now. It’s an app in which girls can resell their PLT pieces. It’s not going to be just PLT pieces, you can sell pretty much anything on there, which is obviously encouraging sustainability hugely. I think it’s going to really disrupt the fashion industry, as people won’t be expecting that from us. I’ll be on there too. I’ll show the girls how to use it and sell my pieces – I’ve got hundreds of PLT pieces and I’ll donate my proceeds to charity.
Do you still embrace the term “influencer”?
Absolutely, it’s where I started. I was an influencer from the age of 16. I still am now, it’s what I do day in, day out. I don’t relate to it fully because I do so much more than that, but I don’t shy away from it.
How do you avoid burnout?
Every day I wake up and if I’ve got a million and one things to do, it doesn’t feel like a chore. I’m so blessed, it’s the life I’ve always dreamed of. It just comes naturally to me, I just get my things done.
‘I do my best to be a positive role model’
Have you had any big fashion mistakes?
I’ve had a few! The person I am now is three years on from when I came out of Love Island. There was one time where I took inspo from a Hailey Bieber red-carpet look and looking back now I’d just do my own look and make a stand for myself.
How do you relax?
Most people know that I like Harry Potter so I just watch it and chill. No make-up, hair in a bun, pyjamas. I love being at home, it’s a safe space.
Pretty Little Thing x Molly-Mae