She’s apparently the UK’s prime influencer, however Molly-Mae Hague isn’t fairly as influential for these of us throughout the pond. That might change on Friday, January 17, when Prime Video debuts its docuseries Molly-Mae: Behind It All.
With three episodes debuting on Friday and extra coming this spring, Behind It All “will take you past the headlines of the U.Okay.’s #1 influencer to uncover the actual Molly-Mae,” per Prime Video. “Following her journey after her publicized break-up, we get to see Molly as we’ve by no means seen her earlier than.”
And also you’ve seen her earlier than in the event you’ve watched Love Island UK, on which she got here in second place within the relationship competitors’s fifth season, alongside Tommy Fury, with whom she’s made loads of headlines recently.
Somewhat backstory: Hague was raised in a lower-middle-class household in Hertfordshire, England, one among two daughters of two cops, based on The Instances. Hague pursued singing, cello classes, dancing, and sweetness pageants in her youth and received the 2016 World Teen Supermodel UK crown.
But it surely was influencer life that appealed to Hague most — she had 8,000 Instagram followers by age 16, she advised Cosmopolitan UK — and she or he moved to Manchester at age 18 to pursue that profession. “I used to be blessed that I jumped on the bandwagon on the proper time,” she advised The Instances in 2022. “Once I began, it was a humongous factor, however there was nonetheless room to develop.”
(“Blessed” is a catchphrase of Hague, it appears. In that very same interview, she referred to as her social media following “blessed,” her relationship on the time “so blessed,” and her Love Island expertise “very blessed.”)
Hague auditioned for Love Island in 2018 however wasn’t chosen, however in 2019, the producers reached out to her. She related with Fury within the Love Island villa and have become a star, going from 160,000 Instagram followers to almost 3 million throughout her time on the present.
That mentioned, Hague received flak for collaborating within the present — some social media customers referred to as her “Cash-Mae” or deemed her faux — however she additionally received devoted followers. “I can depend on one hand the chums that I’ve,” she advised The Instances. “However then actually, I’ve, like, six million of them, so it’s like a pleasant steadiness.”
Following Love Island, Hague made essentially the most of her proverbial quarter-hour of fame, turning into artistic director of the fast-fashion label PrettyLittleThing, launching a self-tanning line, touchdown a sponsorship cope with Starbucks, and penning the autobiography Changing into Molly-Mae. She was a millionaire by the point she was 23.
With that fame got here scrutiny. Twice Hague has run afoul of the U.Okay.’s Promoting Requirements Authority together with her Instagram posts, together with one through which the watchdog group decided a web-based giveaway was not administered pretty, because the BBC reported.
And an even bigger controversy got here in December 2021, when Hague, then 22, mentioned in a podcast interview that success “relies upon [on] what lengths you need to go to get the place you need to be sooner or later,” per The Commonplace. Critics referred to as Hague tone-deaf, saying her feedback ignored structural inequality round race, gender, incapacity, and different elements. On social media, one person mentioned Hague “[had] actually taken ‘girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep’ to a complete different stage,” whereas one other mentioned her “lack of self-awareness is loopy,” per The Impartial.
“Clearly, I meant completely no malice or something ill-intended by that remark in any respect,” she advised British Vogue in an interview revealed in November 2024. “Would I’ve worded it barely otherwise now? One-hundred %, as to not upset anyone. However you’re not all the time going to get it proper, residing your life within the public eye.”
Hague’s relationship with Fury has additionally been underneath the microscope since their Love Island days. The pair welcomed daughter Bambi in January 2023 and received engaged that July. However slightly greater than a yr later, in August 2024, Hague introduced the top of her relationship with the skilled boxer.
“Nobody will ever actually know what went down other than Tommy and I, and that’s how we’d wish to hold it, for Bambi’s sake,” Hague advised British Vogue. However she additionally appeared to shift the blame on Fury, saying, “I do suppose that he’ll discuss issues ultimately. I do suppose that when he’s prepared, like, possibly extra might be mentioned. However I believe that’s for him to do on his phrases.”
Now Behind It All captures a post-Fury Hague as she balances motherhood together with her profession within the lead-up to the launch of her trend line, Maebe. “This yr has been a transformative one for Molly, and we’re thrilled to supply Prime Video audiences unique, intimate entry to her each day life and thrilling new ventures via this collection,” Hannah Blyth, Head of TV at Prime Video UK, says in a press launch. “Molly is a real powerhouse and her authenticity, resilience, and power will undoubtedly resonate with viewers as she opens up like by no means earlier than.”
Molly-Mae: Behind It All, Collection Premiere, Friday, January 17, Prime Video