IN an unmistakable statement of defiance, Molly-Mae Hague has broken her silence for the first time since her dramatic split from Tommy Fury amid cheating allegations.
“Hi guys! Welcome back to my YouTube channel,” she said in a 37-minute video posted online on Thursday.
A seemingly innocuous opener but for those fluent in Love Island, like me, the subtext was deafening: There is no way back for Tommy because Molly-Mae is moving on.
The 25-year-old has become a multi-millionaire by carefully curating her public image in the same way she creates perfect pictures for her money-spinning Instagram.
Since shooting to fame on ITV’s Love Island in 2019, Molly has stood by the Royal Family’s old adage (a favourite of Kate Moss’s too): “Never complain, never explain.”
‘Not a publicity stunt’
And she has won over fans by offering a chink of realism through the filtered lens of her perfect life.
This lens, of course, shattered to smithereens two weeks ago when Molly announced that she and fiancé Tommy, 25, who have daughter Bambi, 20 months, were splitting after five seemingly perfect years.
Since then a parade of women have been linked to the boxer, building a far less pretty picture.
Now Molly-Mae has finally spoken out.
In her YouTube video, she said: “The last two weeks have been very real.
“It’s real life, it’s something we’ve been going through as privately as we can but obviously not privately whatsoever.
“This is real life, it is not drama, it is not tea [a slang term for gossip], it is not a publicity stunt — as much as I wish it was.
“This is real life and it’s very sad and it’s very deep.”
Molly-Mae called it quits on August 14, hours after being sent an “upsetting” video of her man’s recent booze-fuelled lads’ holiday in North Macedonia.
The Sun told how she confronted Tommy about claims he cheated on her with a Danish woman during the trip.
We later revealed that the Molly-Mae lookalike was Milla Corfixen, 20, who initially described Tommy as “a proper gentleman”.
She then did a U-turn and admitted they had kissed.
Tommy has strenuously denied the cheating allegations, saying they had “horrified” him. Amid the “he said, she said” circus, Molly has stayed silent — until now.
On the video, she continued: “I haven’t really been able to get away from it the last couple of weeks, the last thing I want to do is to come on here and fuel that more.
“I know you will be like, ‘We want to know what’s gone on’.
“I think it’s important to deal with it privately, also out of respect to Tommy as well, because it’s just not nice.
“He is Bambi’s dad and I will always value him and respect him and always have a lot of love for him.
“We were together for five years and it’s very, very sad.”
Then dashing some fans’ hopes she might expose Tommy as a love rat once and for all, she added: “I don’t really ever plan on talking about the last couple of weeks, it’s not something that I feel comfortable with.
“It’s not something I want to go into.”
This is real life, it is not drama, it is not tea [a slang term for gossip], it is not a publicity stunt — as much as I wish it was
Molly-Mae Hague
Sitting in her pristine, cream home in a simple white top and pair of gold earrings, it was clear that was as far as Molly was prepared to go. But she did not need to say more.
Because for me — a writer who has followed Molly since her first show- stopping steps into the Love Island villa — the truth lay in what she left unsaid.
The allegations against Tommy might be “not nice” — but she did not deny them.
She also did not tell of the nights she must have spent sobbing into her gorgeous, cream pillow.
She did not tell of the gut punch she must have felt every time her Instagram messages pinged with another woman claiming to have slept with Tommy.
Instead, Molly offered us the palette to paint our own picture.
“I’m a little bit run down, got a bit of a cold, bit of a cough, standard,” she said.
Guts and grit
“I actually have a child-free day today and I don’t really know how to act because me and that baby have been joined at the hip.”
“I think she is having a little bit of attachment issues at the minute. She can definitely sense that there are changes and things are strange at the minute.
“I can really feel that she can sense that, which is very interesting considering she’s just a baby, she’s not even two yet.”
A heartbreaking twist of the knife, there.
It is clear that the unravelling of her relationship has been devastating for Molly.
But it is also clear that she does not plan to let this derail her future. And this 37-minute manifesto set the stage for her comeback — which does not include Tommy.
She said: “The best way to deal with this is to move forward, look to the future.”
Later, she echoed: “I hope we can sort of move forward and I’ve got so many exciting things coming up.”
We were together for five years and it’s very, very sad
Molly-Mae Hague
She added: “This is going to be a process but I know how I’m going to deal with this best.”
Perhaps the most telling section of the confessional was when, 24 minutes in, she pivoted to chat about her new business venture.
With the guts and grit that helped her build her £6million net worth, she launched into an update.
“I started working on this before I fell pregnant with Bambi. It’s got to be two and a half years that this has been in the works for.
“For the last year and a half I’ve been literally non-stop working on it. Near enough every single day.
“My heart and soul has gone into this new project.”
Her voice faltering slightly, she admitted: “With everything that’s going on at the minute, it’s not really the best timing . . . when it was early days, I thought I’d have to push it back.
“I felt like I wasn’t mentally strong enough to think about anything else.
“But there is absolutely no chance I’ve worked on this as hard as I have for as long as I have for it to just not happen when and how and where . . . in every way that I want it to.”
No way back
It turns out that despite her entire life being pulled from under her, incredible Molly has allowed herself just one extra week to grieve.
She went on: “I can’t wait for it to no longer be a secret and to share with you what I’ve been doing.
“I said a couple of months ago that my Instagram hard launch for what I’m doing was going to be on the 1st [September] but that is now going to be on the 8th.
“I just needed to give myself one extra week to recoup.”
And that is the surest sign yet that there is no way back for Tommy.
This incredible woman is ready to make the biggest business move of her life with just one week off.
She does not need him by her side.
She can handle calls with investors, project managers and PR, with baby Bambi balanced on her hip.
She can break her silence and reset her public image in readiness for the launch with just one simple piece to camera.
Tommy can splash the cash on ostentatious garlands of flowers, diamonds and gifts.
But Molly-Mae Hague does not need him to. She can buy them herself.
And if Molly can come back from this hell with her focus so clear, then, by God, she should go out and buy herself some treats.