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This Is Not A Publicity Stunt · Outspoken the Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Sophie Torber and coming up on today's show, Molly May
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: says she was bed bound following split from boxer Tommy
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Fury and Megan Gale's surprising return. But first, eight weeks
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: out from her due date, fitness influencer Sarah's Day is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: dropping clues on her third son's name. In an Instagram story,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: she shared a mirror selfie of her pregnant belly and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: wrote clue followed by an emoji of a hand saluting
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a mountain and the praying hands. This was posted in
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: our Facebook community and we have some very clever listeners.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: So many people are guessing the name could either be
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Everest or Rocky and that's due to the mountain emoji.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: And I remember Sarah saying in a vlog that Fox
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: wanted to call the baby Rocky and but that she
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: wasn't quite sure. And isn't that the name of Kourtney
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Kardashian's baby? So I feel like Rocky is somewhat in
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: vogue at the moment. The other big contender is Elijah.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: So as one of our listeners pointed out, in the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Bible it says, the Lord told Elijah to go to
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the top of the mountain so that he could speak
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: to Elijah. So this makes sense because not only does
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: it relate to the mountain, but also the praying hands
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and perhaps saluting God.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: What makes me think that this really could be on.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: The money is that funnily enough, she is launching a
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: collaboration with a perfume line called Who Is Elijah? Now,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that she's doing it to sell this perfume,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: but she does have a habit of becoming attached to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the brand names that she works with during the time
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: of her pregnancy because she was working closely with White
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Fox Boutique when her first son, Fox, was born. She
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: also recently admitted in a YouTube that if Fox was
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: a girl, he was going to be called Bloom. And
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: at the time, she had just launched a product called
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Body Bloom. Well, we'll have to wait and see. I
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: think Sarah is going to release a few more clues
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: in the next eight weeks. How do you feel about
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: people dropping clues of baby names? Do you think it's
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a bit of fun or do you feel like it's
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: someone cashing in on the birth of their child? Look,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: in this instance, I just think it's a bit of fun.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Everybody is waiting with anticipation to see what Sarah calls
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: her third child.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: And she's just giving her followers what they want, a
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: few clues.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: I'm surprised she only shared this as an Instagram story
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: and not a feed post because I thought that she
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: would have liked people to guess in the comment section.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, maybe she was worried that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: too many people would guess the name and it would
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: fill up the comment section and it would no longer
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: be a surprise. You know when you know the answer
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: to a question and it seems so obvious the clues
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: that you give out? Like I wonder if it feels
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: like that for them.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I just, I'm really looking forward to just, like I say,
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: pressing on.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Molly May Haig has returned to YouTube just two weeks
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: after announcing her shock split from boxer Tommy Fury. The
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: UK influencer has been under pressure to make an online
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: comeback with her secret project set to be unveiled in
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: a few days. So if you're off the bat, this
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: video was giving vibes of a tell-all. Yeah, it really
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: did have all the right ingredients to be one of
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: those iconic sit down, tell all videos. So it was
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: entitled High with a little black love heart emoji. And
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: in the thumbnail, Molly looked very serious. And I have
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: never clicked on a video so fast. We had so
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: many people sending this through to us. Well, she also
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: looked very glammed up in comparison to how she normally
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: comes across on YouTube. She's often stripped back. She'll have
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: her hair back. But this time, her hair was down
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Her makeup was on point. Yeah, well, she would have
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: been aware of just how many people would be tuning
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: in and how many news publications would be scrutinizing how
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: she looked because I really think how you present yourself
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: says so much without you having to say anything. And
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I know people are throwing around this sort of jokey
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: line that she's the people's princess, but it really felt
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: like She had this cool rich girl vibes and she
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: was a princess who was addressing the nation on a
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: very important matter. And she kicked things off by saying
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: she hadn't made a plan of what she wanted to say.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Realistically though, prior to filming, Molly and her manager Fran
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: would have devised exactly how to tackle this scandal. There
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: is a secret project in the works and there's so
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: much media scrutiny at the moment that this video really
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: had to hit the right notes for her. And I
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: think a lot of strategy would have been put into
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: what Molly said and more importantly, what she didn't say. Well,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I agree. But I think what Molly was saying is
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: she hasn't written out some statement. She's not reading off
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: an autocue. It came across as very real what she
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: was saying. Of course, they probably came up with a
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: few dot points.
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And I think that this is why she's such a
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: successful blogger is because she connects with her audience so
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: well and she makes you feel like you're a friend.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And if she was sitting there delivering some scripted piece,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I don't think it would feel so authentic. Now, it
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: did become clear straight off the bat that we weren't
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: going to be getting all of the dirty details. So
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: she acknowledged that she knows a lot of people will
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: have clicked on the video, expecting for her to spill
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: the tea and get an explanation of what happened. But
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: that was never something that she was going to do.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Here's part of what she said.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: I don't really ever plan on talking about the last
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: couple of weeks. I just, it's not something that I
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: feel comfortable with. And I know a lot of you
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: will be like, we want to know what's going on,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: but it's just, like I say, this is real life.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: It is not drama. It is not tea. It is not, um,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: a publicity stunt. Like this is as much as I
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: wish it was, this is real life and it's very
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: sad and it's very deep. And I just don't feel, um,
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: not even ready, it's not that I don't feel ready,
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: it's that I just don't, it doesn't feel right for
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: me to come on here and talk about it. So,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: also out of respect to Tommy as well, because it's
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: just not nice, and I feel like everything over the
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: last couple of weeks has really, it's been a lot,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: like it's been a lot, and been blown way out
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: of proportion, and gotten, it's really carried, what's the word?
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: It's all gotten a bit carried away with itself, and
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: I think And yeah, the last thing I want to
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: do is be fueling that fire anymore and stirring the
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: pot when it just doesn't need to be stirred.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: It's interesting that she touched on the breakup not being
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: a publicity stunt because there has been a lot of
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: speculation online that Molly is trying to drum up publicity
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: because she is launching her biggest product to date. But
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: what stood out to me is that she said she
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: wishes it was a publicity stunt. Because it shows that
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: she did not want this breakup to happen and something
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: has forced her and Tommy to break up. And that's
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the thing. While she didn't go into the explicit details
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: of what went down, she also didn't once deny the
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: cheating rumors or put them to bed because she did
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: acknowledge that things had been blown out of proportion and
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: people had got carried away. But she didn't once say
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: cheating wasn't a factor. Please leave Tommy alone. This is
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: unfair on him. And that was her opportunity to say
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: something if it wasn't true. Now, the next section of
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: the video continued the royal sort of vibes I've been
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: feeling off her because she spoke about pressing on and
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: moving on. And whenever a drama happens in the royal family,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: it's always about putting on a brave face and looking forward.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Let's listen to part of what she said.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: I just, I'm really looking forward to just, like I say,
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: pressing on, moving on and just, yeah, sort of, definitely
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: not brushing it under the carpet, because that's definitely not
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: what I've done, like, I've really been dealing with it,
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: and my support system, like, my personal support system has
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: been incredible, and I've gotten everything out, um, obviously, like,
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: dealing with everything is still an ongoing process, but I'm
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: not swiping it under the carpet, it's just that publicly,
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: it's not something that I want to go into or discuss, um,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: for myself, and also out of respect to Tommy, because
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: he's Bambi's dad, and I will always value him and
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: respect him and obviously always have a lot of love
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: for him. And yeah, we were together for five years
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: and it's very, very sad.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: I'm really not surprised that Molly is keeping the details
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of this breakup private because She's obviously got her young daughter, Bambi,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: who is involved and that adds a different element to it.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: And also with the level of fame Molly now holds,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: she also seems above getting into all the dirty detail. Yeah,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: because she really has this different level of celebrity than
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: other influencers. She doesn't need to throw out these little
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: crumbs or details or divulge everything to us to keep
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: us hooked. Well, the breakup was announced on BBC News.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: So there's no way that she actually needs, as you said,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to be dropping little bits here and there to get
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: people's attention. People are interested in this story already. While
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: she was really careful to not reveal the cause of
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the breakup, I don't know about you, Amy, but don't
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: you think it was written all over her face? You
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: could just tell from her body language that she felt
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: disgusted by his behavior because she kept having this little
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: twitch of her nose and her eyebrow would raise in
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: a certain way. It was almost as if, you know,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: when you smell something gross, it was sort of that
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: look on her face, this look of repulsion while she
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: was talking about it. Yeah, you could tell that she
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: was visibly upset and almost shaken by the whole ordeal. Yeah,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: and she finished up that section of the video by
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: reiterating that the support of her fans has been helping
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: her get through this difficult time. Now, following the sit-down address.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: The video.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Then turned into a regular vlog where Molly showed how
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: she'd spent the last week. And this was the part
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: that I found the most fascinating because so many of
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: us have been wanting to be a fly on the
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: wall to know how she's getting through this breakup. Well,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: she prefaced the start of the vlog by saying, look,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: it's not going to be anything great. Like people who
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: know me, you'll know this is going to be a
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: very mundane vlog. And I thought, fuck, what is she
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: actually going to show? Because so much of the last
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: two weeks would have been her sitting around with her friends,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: probably bitching about Tommy, crying, but she actually showed quite
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: a bit. I loved it.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Some of the clips spoke volumes.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: So in the first section of the vlog, Molly explained
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: that she was having a child-free day and didn't know
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: what to do with herself because she and Bambi have
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: been joined by the hit for the past couple of weeks.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: I feel like that was a bit of.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: A subtle dig that she's been doing all of the
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: parenting for quite some time. She then said that Bambi
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: has been experiencing attachment issues and can sense what's going on.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Here's what she said.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: I think she can definitely sense that Like, obviously, there's
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: changes and things are strange at the minute. I can
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: really feel that she can sense that, which is very
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: interesting considering she's just a baby.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: To me, she's just a baby.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: She's not even two yet. And I feel like they're
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: just not stupid. Like, they can really pick up on things.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: That was a really sad insight. And I think it
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: made it real for a lot of people because there's
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: been so much gossip and speculation on TikTok. But this
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: just confirms, these are real people's lives that this is affecting. Yeah,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: there's a poor little girl whose whole life has been
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: thrown upside down. Molly also said that she's been experiencing
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: cabin fever and that she's been bed bound as well
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: as house bound. She said her sister Zoe had been
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: coming around to help with Bambi and that Tommy had
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: had her as well. It was really interesting to see
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: how she's been spending her time. So she's been doing
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: a lot of self-care. She went and got her eyebrows
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: and lashes done and also visited a spa. And she
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: said that the stress of the last few weeks has
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: made her skin do crazy things. So she's been having
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: huge breakouts and rashes. So you can see how much
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: stress she is under. I like that she knew so
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: many people would be watching, yet she kept it real
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: about her spa day because she said she almost shat
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: herself during the massage because she'd had a huge coffee
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and a toasty beforehand. Oh my gosh, I love when
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: she went to the drive-thru for the toasty and she's like,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: a Heinz bean toasty, thank you. And then she's like,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: oh God, I've given myself the ick naming the brand of,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: you know, Heinz. I just kept thinking the whole time,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: all of these people like the masseuse and also like
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: because she stopped off at this little pop-up cookie van
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: on the way home. All of the people were talking
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: to her as if they had no idea who she
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: even is. Like this girl's breakup has been plastered.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: On the BBC.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: All over the frigging news. And she's just stopped by
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: to go and get this sweet treat. Well, she also
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: went into Boots and I was like, where's the paparazzi?
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Like they're being camped out the front of her house.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: She's literally wandering along these streets, going to cookie vans,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: going to spas. At one point I could see her
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: sort of look around as she was vlogging. I think
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: she was like, fuck, I hope no one really sees me.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: But then she did point out her own.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: Fake tan?
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Filtered by Molly Mae? I don't know what was going on. Well,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: that week she also had a woman come in to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: organise her cupboard for her. So she said that with
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: all of the chaos going on in her life, she
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: needed her place to be sorted out. aka she wants
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: to get all of Tommy's shit out of there and
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: clean all of the cupboards. So is that the woman
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: who was dumping all of Tommy's stuff outside in the skit? Oh,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: most probably. Just get everything, get it all out now.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: She did seem to put on a brave face for
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: most of the vlog until it got to the final
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: scene and you saw a true indication of how she
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: was traveling. She told her followers that she was dreading
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the weekend because she's so lonely.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Here's what she said.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: I'm kind of dreading this weekend because I feel like
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: weekends are crap. Like, When you're going for a breakup,
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: I feel like weekends are literally the worst because weekends
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: are always something for me that I really look forward to.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Especially when you're in your family because it's family time
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: and I don't know, it's like memory making time and
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: you always do nice things and I don't know, I
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: feel like weekends.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Now are.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Like the hardest time because it's freaking lonely and just sad, really.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I felt so sorry for Molly when I saw this.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: It reminded me of a really bad breakup I went
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: through where I was so miserable and I couldn't find
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: joy in anything. And you just felt like there was
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: like a constant knife in your heart. Like that is
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: how she'd be feeling, but magnified. Well, it's clear that
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Molly's return to YouTube was far sooner than she would
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: have liked it to have been. And she did say
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: this was because of her secret project, which is in
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the works. So in August last year, Molly announced that
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: she'd started work on this secret project. And this was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: where she was reportedly being paid a massive £ 400, 000 a month.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: It is insane the money that was being thrown at
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: her from PLT. Now, Molly said that this project has
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: actually been two and a half years in the making
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: and that she started working on it when she was
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: pregnant with her daughter, Bambi. Now, ahead of the breakup,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Molly had been teasing this secret project and saying it
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: would go live in September. Now, she addressed this in
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: the vlog saying that she had contemplated pushing back the
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: launch because she didn't feel like she was mentally strong enough.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: But then upon reflection thought, well, why should she push
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: it back? She's poured her heart and soul into it
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: and it's a good distraction. The skeptic in me though
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: thinks that they are striking while the iron is hot.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: They want to get this brand out there while she
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: is still one of the most talked about influencers and
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: celebrities in the UK. The video that she shared just
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: over the weekend, it's already got 2.9 million views. So
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of people will be invested in
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: whatever project this is. And they'll also be wanting to
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: support her. Now they have pushed this launch out by
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: a week. So we were supposed to be finding out
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: about it on September 1st, but they pushed it to
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: the 8th to give her a week to recoup and
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: get back online. Now she explained that the project is
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: why she's made a return to social media so soon.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Here's what she said.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: If it wasn't for my project, probably like I probably
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: wouldn't have come back as soon as I have done. Um,
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: just cause there was not really like any need for
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: me to, but because this has been planned and in
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: the pipeline for literally like years, um, I just, I'm
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: ready for it to launch. I'm ready for it to
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: be here and I'm ready for, Yeah, I'm just ready
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: for it to no longer be a secret and to
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: just actually share with you what I've been doing for
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: the last years.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: So what do you think this secret project is? Because
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I have no idea. Well, one super sleuth who I
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: think should be working for the FBI thinks that she's
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: cracked the code on what this secret project is. So
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: she is a massive Molly Mae fan. She's a TikToker
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: called Luella and she has come across a Pinterest board
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: which she thinks belongs to Molly Mae and is full
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of clues. Here's what she said.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: It has clothing inspo.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: So of course I went over to Instagram and there
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: was a new account that is called Maybe. It only
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: had 17 followers and it was only following one person.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: And of course the only person it is following is
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: Molly Mae. So I then went on to.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Now, since this TikTok came out, Maybe on Instagram now
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: has 57.5 thousand followers. I am one of those followers.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: I want to know what the news is as soon
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: as it comes out. Imagine if it wasn't actually her
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: account and this person's just like, oh, wow.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: It's just this TikTok has come up with it. It
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: could be quite a good strategy. Now, following the discovery
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: of the Pinterest board and also the Instagram account, the
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: TikToker Luella then went on to Trademark UK and located
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: a store called Maybe. Now, she did some digging and
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: the Maybe Store registration number is also the same number
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: as one of Molly May's newly listed companies. So she
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: strongly believes that this is going to be a clothing brand.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: And the fact that Molly May has proven through PLT
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: that she can sell clothes, I think that this would
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: be an incredibly lucrative business for her. Well, it makes
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of sense why Molly would abruptly leave PLT
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, because when she was first announced in
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: the role, She made headlines around the world for the
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: size of the pay packet. And at the time, she
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: said that it was her dream job. And there are
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: a lot of questions around what is she actually doing
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: in this role to be paid that sum of money? Now,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: she was asked by a journo and she said, people
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: get it twisted and think I'm in charge of the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: whole brand and I've come in and I'm going to
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: flip it upside down. But that's not the case. I
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: give my creative input when I can and I give
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: my ideas. Well, it's like she's an ambassador.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Well, pretty much.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I think they just wanted to put her face on everything.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: She's the star power behind it. It really didn't sound
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: like a strenuous job though, did it, Amy? Like it
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: didn't sound like she was working around the clock in
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the office. She would occasionally reply to the odd message
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: in a WhatsApp group.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Come out on shoots.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: And I think that's why so many people were surprised
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: when Molly revealed that she was quitting this job, this
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: sort of seen as non-strenuous job, to concentrate on motherhood
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: because it seemed like the ideal job to have. Well,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: I wonder if she was forced to quit. or she
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: decided that she needed to get out of PLT before
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: they discovered that she was coming up with her own
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: clothing brand. I wonder if she was forced to quit,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: or she decided that she needed to get out before
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: PLT discovered she had plans to make her own clothing brand.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Because depending on the price point, this is going to
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: be a direct competitor of PLT. Well, there was a
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: lot of speculation when Molly wasn't invited to PLT owner
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Umar Kamani's wedding last year, and this could be why. Now-
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: We've got to touch on Tommy because he appears to
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: have been inspired by Molly May's initial return to Instagram.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: So a day and a half after Molly thanked fans
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: for their support, Tommy released his own Instagram post and
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: it almost felt like he was trying to recreate the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: vibe of Molly's post. Failing miserably. Yeah, it totally missed
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: the mark. So in Molly's post, she appeared to be
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: deep in thought as she looked out at this beautiful lake.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: It looked like she'd taken some time away at a
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: cozy cabin, which funnily enough, we didn't see in the vlog.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: I was waiting to see some time at the cabin,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: but maybe that was in the very early days. It
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: was very wholesome and it received a very strong reaction
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: from her fans. At the time of recording, it has
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: 2 million likes and over 20,000 comments from fans. sending
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: love and.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Well wishes her way.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Now, instead of looking out ominously at a lake, Tommy
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: looked deep in concentration while doing up his shoelaces. Now,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: this photo appears to be taken after one of Tommy's
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: training sessions as there were some boxing gloves in front
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: of him. And the caption read, these last few weeks
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: have been heartbreaking. The false allegations about me have been horrendous.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you to everybody who has stood by me through
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: this and added a little white love heart emoji. I
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: think Tommy needs a new PR person because Molly's PR manager, Fran,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: is just absolutely kicking this PR manager's ass.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, why would you come out with.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: A near identical pose? Did he think that he was
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: going to get the same reception as Molly? Yeah, because
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: it was so awkward because he thanked his followers for
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: standing by him just like Molly did in her post.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: But unlike Molly, he hasn't received this huge outpouring of support.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: If anything, people have been openly hating on the guy
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: and been spreading rumours about his alleged cheating. Well, there's
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: also been so many jokes about him being dumb. Like
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: there's been so many TikToks where people are like, I
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: don't believe that Tommy was recording an audio book. He
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: doesn't know how to read. And it kind of plays
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: into this stereotype because he looked confused about tying his shoelaces. Yeah,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: and I don't know why he was saying thank you
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: for the support because even at the moment, There's a
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: new trend on TikTok where women are referring to him
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: as trash. So they will start the TikTok by saying,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: oh my God, I can't believe I've spotted him in
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: the flesh. And they flip the screen to reveal a
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: large skip bin.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: It's pretty funny. I mean, it is mean.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: It's also interesting that he used his return on Instagram
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: to refute these cheating allegations. I think he had word
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: that Molly was going to be putting out her video
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: and he knew that she wasn't going to touch on anything.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: She wasn't going to throw him to the wolves. So
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: he thought, Well, I'm going to say that I haven't
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: cheated because I'm not going to get caught out in
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: this instance. If anything, I mean, Molly's YouTube video, it
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: only makes her look superior in every way to Tommy. Like, yes,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I suppose in ways it hasn't made him look that
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: bad because she hasn't gone into the dirty details, but
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: it's evident that he's done the wrong thing and so
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: much public sympathy continues to flow for Molly. Yeah. Well,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I was so interested to see the reaction in Tommy's
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: comment section. Yeah. So the top comment said, then tell
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: us what you did, brah, which at the time of
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: recording has had over 11,000 likes.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I'm surprised the comments were even left on.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: It was very ballsy to keep the comments on. But
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: then again, if you shut them off, it looks like
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: you've got something to hide. I just think it was
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: a really lazy PR move and that whoever is managing
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Tommy's socials and his PR response has gone.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Well, it worked for Molly.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Let's just put up Tommy's.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Picture as well.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: Well, I think they were definitely trying to evoke sympathy
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: for him and show that he's back in the gym.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: He's not focusing on the drama. It's not working.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: But, no, it did not work for him.
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Look, I'm a very nostalgic kind of person. So, and,
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: you know, and I know a lot of people are too.
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: And I think it's great for me because it brings
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: back a lot of, I think, some of my best memories.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Of, After a decade-long hiatus, Australian model Megan Gale is
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: making her iconic return as the face of David Jones.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: The 49-year-old has been on the press rounds spruiking the announcement,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: which many are hailing as an ingenious move by the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: fashion retailer.
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: It's been a 10-year hiatus, and in that time I've
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: had two beautiful children, but my little munchkins are getting
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: a little bit more independent. They're both at school now,
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: so I've got one drop-off, which I love. So I've
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: got more time on my hands.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: This made me feel really nostalgic. It's so exciting to
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: see her back with David Jones. So for those who
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: don't remember, she stepped down in 2013 when she was
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: pregnant with her first child. And there was a bit
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: of controversy over the decision because it followed the announcement
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: that Jacinta Campbell would be joining the David Jones family.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: It almost felt like they were replacing Megan Gale with
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: a newer model. Well, yeah. And also not long after
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the announcement, Megan publicized that she would be designing homewares
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: for Target. which is one of David Jones' competitors. So
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: it seemed like maybe there was a bit of nastiness
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: involved in it. But overall, I think this is such
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: a clever PR move because it's really signaling to the
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: world that David Jones is going back to its glory days.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: So its marketing team is promoting this as a new era,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: which is quite relevant for the company because it's just
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: announced it's under new ownership. It's quite funny though, because
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: whilst they're saying it's a new era, they're actually going
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: back to an old era, which obviously did really well
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: for them. But we're seeing this a lot with like
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: movies and TV shows. We're seeing all of these revamped
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: programs that people felt nostalgic about. I think it's a
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: very clever idea. It is. And so in March this year,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: it was announced that Anchorage Capital Partners had bought David
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Jones about a hundred million dollars. which might sound like
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: a lot of money, but for context, Woolworths Holding bought
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: David Jones in 2014 for $ 2. 1 billion. So it was
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: sold at just a fraction of the price. So if
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: you compare the success and standing of David Jones from
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: when Megan Gale was the face of the brand to now,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: it really is chalk and cheese.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: And that is due to the fact that it has
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: been a very turbulent time for retailers over the past
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: five years with the pressures from COVID and also rising
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: interest rates and the overall cost of living. So those
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: things do come into play. Last year, The Australian reported
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: that David Jones stores across the country had experienced significant
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: drops in sales. Well, it's evident that this new owner
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: is trying to bring back what people used to love
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: about David Jones because they're investing more than $ 250 million
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: over the next three years. And this marketing campaign appears
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: to be the very start of this turnaround. So I
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: just think it's such clever marketing because it's using nostalgia
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: to not only gain widespread media attention, which we've seen,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: but it's also reshaping how members of the public view
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: the brand again. I also think it's a great move
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: for David Jones to platform someone who's nearly 50, especially
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: off the back of the negative publicity that the Witchery
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: rebrand received when it was seen to exclude age groups
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: and larger body types. When did Megan Gale turn 49?
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: That blows my mind.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I think because she's married to a much younger footballer.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: Is it Sean? Sean Hampson from Richmond.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that she.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Seems so much younger. I mean, she doesn't look a
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: day over 30. Remember when it was like such a
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: big headline because she and Andy Lee started dating?
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: I think that was.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Around the time of her real heyday at David Jones.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I remember this rumour that was going around. that said
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: that Andy Lee broke up with Rebecca Harding, who is
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: now his fiancee, because after dating Megan Gale, he felt
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: like he should be with someone high profile again. I'd
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: like to think that wasn't true. I mean, considering they're
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: now together, but you never know with media types. Now,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: David Jones have marked this announcement by making Megan Gale
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: the cover girl of their spring 2024 season launch. And
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: in this article announcing Megan Gale as the new face
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: of David Jones, They have likened the connection between David
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: Jones and Megan Gale to that of Nike and Michael Jordan,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: which I thought was pretty iconic. I find it an
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: interesting way that they've made this announcement by putting her
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: on the front cover of the magazine. Obviously, it makes
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: sense because she's a supermodel and she's stunning. But I
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: wonder how many people actually read this magazine. Yeah, but
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: they haven't just announced it on the magazine. They've put
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: out a huge PR release. It's all over their socials.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: She's been all over morning TV. It's in all of
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the newspapers. This is a huge announcement for them. And
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: what I'm really interested to see is if this means
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: we'll suddenly see Maya announce Jen Hawkins' comeback. Because if
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: you rewind the clocks back to the early 2000s, it
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: was always Megan versus Jen. And the media actually nicknamed
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: the rivalry the Star Wars. And when you thought of
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: David Jones, you instantly thought of Megan Gale. And the
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: same with Maya. You instantly thought of Jen Hawkins. Were
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: you a Maya girl or a David Jones girl? I
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: was a Maya girl. And I think that's because of
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: how old I was when there were the wars going on. Yeah.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: They had the Mist shop, so it was quite cheap
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: to buy clothes from there. David Jones always had an
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: older vibe to it.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: More elitist. Yeah, a very snobby vibe, which I didn't
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: connect with.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and any Gen Zers listening, just so you know,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: being the ambassador of a store like David Jones or
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Meijer in the early 90s or 2000s was like landing
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the biggest influencer deal. There was such an intense sense
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: of brand loyalty there. And people like Jen and Megan
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: could literally move product.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: Like no other person.
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: I wanted to find out how much they were being
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: paid for these deals at the time. So it was
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: around 15 to 20 years ago. Obviously, money has changed
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: a lot. I couldn't find an exact figure, but at
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the height of their notoriety, they were being predicted to
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: be paid about $ 1 million a year. Which is huge
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: at the time. And if you look back, Megan left
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: David Jones in 2013. But Jen continued on, and it
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: wasn't until 2018 that Jen Hawkins announced she'd be retiring
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: as the face of Maya. And interestingly, off the back
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: of it, Maya announced there would never be another face
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: of Maya. And this led to many media publications speculating
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: that this was the end of the ambassador era in
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Australian politics. retail.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: And it did change things.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: So brands like Maya and David Jones, while they still
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: had some ambassadors, they were very much on a campaign basis.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: So they signed ambassadors on for limited periods, where back
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: in the day, you would sign on for like a
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: five-year deal. That's because with social media, there is always
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: a new it person. Yeah. I think the issue is
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: that there's not as much customer loyalty as there once was.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: And this is why brands like Maya got rid of
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: someone being the face of it. But now we are
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: seeing Megan Gow back. She has just signed a multi-year deal.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: They haven't said how many years exactly, but they've said
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: it's a multi-year deal. So we just have to sit.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Back and see, what does Maya do?
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Do you also think it's because as a society, it's
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: been such a tumultuous time with COVID and the cost
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: of living? We need some stability. We need someone who
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: is the face of one of these iconic Australian brands
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: and we need to be reflecting on a happier time. Yeah,
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I think you've hit the nail on the head. People
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: want nostalgia. Nostalgia is so popular right now. And to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: be honest, it does actually make me go, I would
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: like to return to David Jones. Well, I still shop
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: there all the time. Yeah. Well, I think that's all
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: we have time for today. Thank you so much for
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: joining us for today's show. If you have enjoyed it,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: could you please make sure you subscribe to Apple Podcasts
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: and also Spotify. You can also follow us on TikTok
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and Instagram. We're at Outspoken underscore the underscore podcast. This
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: episode was recorded on the traditional land of the Kaurna
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: past and present.