Molly-Mae Hague went from being compared to Margaret Thatcher to landing a seven-figure brand deal in just a couple of weeks.
The Love Island star has made a name for herself as a pretty savvy businesswoman, while attracting some negativity along the way.
The 22-year-old recently sparked controversy by saying we all have the same 24 hours in the day as Beyonce, seemingly suggesting that everyone can be a millionaire if they work hard enough.
The PrettyLittleThing creative director did her best to quell the fury, apologising to those who were offended by her comments.
And since then, she's landed a massive seven-figure deal with brand Beauty Works, so it's clear that her comments on podcast Diary of a CEO didn't affect her in the long run.
Here's a rundown of everything that happened...
The podcast
Earlier this month, Molly came under fire for comments she made on Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett's podcast Diary of a CEO.
She said: "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 about that in the past I have been slammed a little bit, with people saying ‘it’s easy for you to say that because you’ve not grown up in poverty, so for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct.’ But, technically, what I’m saying is correct. We do.
"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 on what lengths you want to go to get where you want to be in the future. And I’ll go to any length."
She then added: "I’ve worked my absolute a**e off to get where I am now."
Molly was blasted online for the comments from people who felt she didn't recognise how her privilege and appearance on Love Island played a part in her success.
Maura rushes to her defence
Molly's best pal Maura was quick to rush to her defence after people started slagging her off online.
She fired back after fellow Islander Shaughna Phillips tweeted: "Molly Mae is young, who’s had a lot of success really quickly, and not a lot of “life”.
"So I can understand why she holds those views. We all say things when we’re younger and look back and think 'well that was stupid' lol. No shade, I wanna live in her bubble."
Maura hit back: "Surely you know as someone in this industry how lonely and scary it can be when the whole internet is slamming you.
"Your entitled to your opinion yes but I’m really surprised you commenting on this at all."
Shaughna said she was 'defending' Molly-Mae in her original tweet.
"100%! That’s why I tweeted this in her defence," Shaughna insisted. "She’s young and successful, it’s not her fault she has those views. Like I said, no shade, just jel lol."
Wikipedia vandalised
Following the backlash, Molly's Wikipedia page was vandalised by someone who compared her to former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
She was dubbed "Margaret Thatcher with a fake tan" by angry fans in the biography.
The page was changed to read: "Molly-Mae Thatcher (born 26 May 1999) is an English social-media influencer. She is best known for getting her snatch out on the fifth series of Love Island and for having worked harder than anyone less successful than her."
The page continued to refer to her as "Thatcher".
The controversy section was changed to read: "For many, it showed tone-deaf insolence and an obnoxious sense of ignorance, especially in a time where there is an unprecedented use of food banks and an electricity/gas crisis, exacerbate the issue of roughly 1 in 5 in the UK living in poverty."
Podcast host defends her
Steven Bartlett, who hosted the podcast that sparked all the fury, spoke out to defend her and suggest that a man would not have received the same backlash.
He said: "Molly Mae did an interview on my podcast, yesterday a soundbite from that interview went viral, she trended No.1 on Twitter, every newspaper covered it and MP's weighed in.
"I've had male guests say what she said. No one cared. But when Molly says it, she's crucified? Crazy.
"I've become very aware of the double standard that successful women face.
"If I Interview a man, he can brag about money, take full credit for his success and talk about his cars? If I interview a successful women, she's got to tip toe around her success and watch her words?"
Steven, who himself became a millionaire at age 23, added on Twitter: "Gender issues aside, the standard we hold Molly Mae to as a 22 year-old that's figuring out the world is absolutely outrageous.
"She once said she didn't like Italian food, it trended No.1 all day, was written about in every newspaper and she had to issue a public apology. 22."
Molly's reps speak out
Amid the backlash, Molly's representatives released a statement in an attempt to explain what she had meant by her comments on the podcast.
They said: "Molly did a podcast interview in December about her own rise to success. If you listen to the full conversation and interview Molly was asked about how the nature of her potential grows and how she believes in herself. This part of the interview was discussing time efficiency relating to success.
"Molly refers to a quote which says 'We all have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce '. She was discussing her own experience and how she can resonate with this specific quote.
"Her opinion on if you want something enough you can work hard to achieve it is how she keeps determined with her own work to achieve more in her own life. 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."
Molly apologises
Molly later issued her own apology on social media.
She wrote on her Instagram story: "I wanted to come back online today as normal but I feel like 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 can 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."
She added: "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."
Huge new deal
Proving the controversy hadn't had too much of a detrimental effect on her, Molly soon landed a huge seven-figure deal with Beauty Works.
It's said that the deal with the beauty brand is worth at least £1 million.
A source told The Sun: "Molly's range with Beauty Works was a bestseller so she's signed on with them until winter 2022.
"The deal is worth seven figures."
