Latest / Outspoken the Podcast / Top Influencer Scandals of 2025
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
- 0:08Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
- 0:12Speaker 1: Sophie Torber and on today's show we're going to be
- 0:14Speaker 1: counting down the top influencer stories of the year and
- 0:17Speaker 1: what a massive year it's been Kate. Oh 2025 has
- 0:21Speaker 1: not disappointed. I cannot believe all of these things happened
- 0:24Speaker 1: within the space of 12 months. It's quite funny because
- 0:27Speaker 1: We get a lot of questions like, how do you
- 0:29Speaker 1: come up with the content for your podcast? And or
- 0:31Speaker 1: do you ever run out of stories? We are nearly
- 0:34Speaker 1: seven years into this podcast and we have not had
- 0:36Speaker 1: one week where we're like, I wonder what we're going
- 0:38Speaker 1: to talk about. Like influencers have delivered. They really have.
- 0:41Speaker 1: And I had so much fun putting this list together
- 0:44Speaker 1: because it really blew my mind looking back at stories
- 0:47Speaker 1: that broke at the start of the year. And they
- 0:49Speaker 1: didn't seem that long ago. But personally, in my life,
- 0:52Speaker 1: so much has changed since then. It just was a
- 0:54Speaker 1: really weird feeling. Yeah, it is really weird. Let's kick
- 0:57Speaker 1: off with number 10, and that is the controversial Uber
- 1:01Speaker 1: Eats campaign that Steph Claire Smith and her husband, Josh Miller,
- 1:04Speaker 1: created back in January. So this was a video promoting
- 1:09Speaker 1: Uber Eats' new kids' breakfast box, and it garnered over
- 1:12Speaker 1: 1.4 million views. But comments quickly had to be disabled
- 1:17Speaker 1: as followers were very distracted by the couple's rather comical
- 1:20Speaker 1: attempts to conceal their son Harvey's face throughout the ad.
- 1:24Speaker 1: And it led to many questioning... If privacy is paramount,
- 1:28Speaker 1: why include your three-year-old in brand deals at all? As
- 1:31Speaker 1: you touched on, Soph, this year has been an absolute blur.
- 1:34Speaker 1: When did Steph start hiding Harvey's face? It was actually
- 1:38Speaker 1: late last year, so late 2024. She's been doing it
- 1:41Speaker 1: for over a year now. And they did speak in
- 1:43Speaker 1: depth about their decision to no longer show his face online.
- 1:47Speaker 1: So the decision came after Harvey started to be recognized
- 1:50Speaker 1: in public, even when he wasn't with his famous parents.
- 1:53Speaker 1: So he was approached by a fan. well, as in
- 1:56Speaker 1: Steph's van, whilst on a childcare excursion and also when
- 2:00Speaker 1: he was out with different family members who were babysitting him.
- 2:03Speaker 1: And this was a huge change for the couple hiding
- 2:06Speaker 1: his face because he has featured on a lot of
- 2:09Speaker 1: their content, particularly Josh Miller's content, because as a primary
- 2:14Speaker 1: carer for Harvey, he built up a bit of a
- 2:17Speaker 1: following as being a stay-at-home dad, particularly on TikTok. Yeah. Well,
- 2:20Speaker 1: he actually still posts a lot of content with Harvey.
- 2:23Speaker 1: I came across his TikTok the other day. And it's
- 2:26Speaker 1: quite interesting because the only content he shares now are ads,
- 2:29Speaker 1: but they still feature Harvey in a very similar way
- 2:31Speaker 1: to this Uber ad campaign that garnered so much attention
- 2:34Speaker 1: in January. So let's get into that ad. So it
- 2:36Speaker 1: was very creatively shot by the couple. And as you said, Kate,
- 2:39Speaker 1: they have continued to be creative in the way that
- 2:42Speaker 1: they use Harvey in ads. And they really did stick
- 2:45Speaker 1: to their guns in this video and didn't include his
- 2:47Speaker 1: face in it at all. Many of the shots of
- 2:49Speaker 1: Josh and Harvey cooking were filmed overhead. And they even
- 2:53Speaker 1: used an Uber Eats box and also a vase of
- 2:55Speaker 1: flowers to conceal his face, which was hilarious at the time.
- 3:00Speaker 1: They even showed Harvey playing with a toy that came
- 3:02Speaker 1: in the breakfast box. And every time he spun around,
- 3:05Speaker 1: it would cut as soon as his face became visible.
- 3:07Speaker 1: It literally looked like he was in witness protection, the
- 3:10Speaker 1: way that they had shot and produced this. It's interesting
- 3:13Speaker 1: to consider the backlash that surrounded this ad only 12
- 3:17Speaker 1: months ago, when you consider how Gee Bungalow was absolutely
- 3:21Speaker 1: praised for not including kids' faces in her recent fashion campaign.
- 3:24Speaker 1: I think it shows how much things have changed for
- 3:27Speaker 1: kids online in the last year, particularly with the government
- 3:30Speaker 1: introducing the social media ban for kids under 16. I
- 3:34Speaker 1: think the difference with Steph and Josh's situation is that
- 3:37Speaker 1: they earn a hell of a lot of money. Steph
- 3:40Speaker 1: has appeared on the Young Rich list a number of times.
- 3:43Speaker 1: I think her fortune is estimated at over $ 20 million.
- 3:46Speaker 1: So a lot of people were questioning, well, do you
- 3:49Speaker 1: really have to take these ads that include your child
- 3:51Speaker 1: if you are so hell-bent on keeping his face private
- 3:54Speaker 1: and everything else? And people also question how effective this
- 3:58Speaker 1: actually was for Uber Eats because so many people were
- 4:00Speaker 1: just distracted by the fact that his face wasn't in it.
- 4:02Speaker 1: That was what all the comments were. It wasn't about
- 4:05Speaker 1: the actual product that they were selling. It's funny though,
- 4:07Speaker 1: because the way Steph and Josh shot it meant that
- 4:10Speaker 1: the video went viral because there was so much engagement
- 4:13Speaker 1: on it of people commenting about not being able to
- 4:15Speaker 1: see Harvey's face. So It actually was quite successful for
- 4:18Speaker 1: Uber Eats in the way that it got fed out
- 4:20Speaker 1: to 1.4 million people. I was actually watching a video
- 4:24Speaker 1: of Michael Finch cooking Christmas crack the other day and
- 4:27Speaker 1: that went viral. It had over a million views because
- 4:30Speaker 1: in the first scene, he cuts like a block of
- 4:32Speaker 1: butter that's covered in paper and a bit of the
- 4:34Speaker 1: paper goes into the bowl. And like everyone was just commenting,
- 4:38Speaker 1: did anyone see the paper? Like it was just so funny.
- 4:40Speaker 1: And it's crazy how I swear influencers now leave things
- 4:44Speaker 1: in like that as a bit of clickbait to drive engagement.
- 4:48Speaker 1: Now sharing ninth spot is Olivia Rogers and her ex-husband,
- 4:52Speaker 1: Justin McKeon's separate baby announcements. I want to make that clear.
- 4:55Speaker 1: So they didn't have a baby together. They had babies
- 4:57Speaker 1: with two different people. Yes. Now in the new year,
- 5:00Speaker 1: Justin shocked the internet with the news he was expecting
- 5:03Speaker 1: a baby with his on-again, off-again bachelor star girlfriend, Tani Leeson.
- 5:08Speaker 1: And the news was particularly surprising as it was just
- 5:11Speaker 1: weeks after Justin had reportedly vanished before he was due
- 5:14Speaker 1: to appear in court to face theft charges. So late
- 5:18Speaker 1: in 2024, his former employer alleges that he stole almost
- 5:21Speaker 1: half a million dollars while working as head of finance
- 5:25Speaker 1: to allegedly fuel a drug problem. It's crazy that it's
- 5:28Speaker 1: been over a year now and we haven't actually found
- 5:30Speaker 1: out the outcome of this court case. Mm-hmm. Well, he
- 5:32Speaker 1: was a no-show so many times. I mean, he doesn't
- 5:35Speaker 1: seem to be in a good place, unfortunately. Now, despite
- 5:38Speaker 1: his legal woes, it didn't appear that any expense was
- 5:41Speaker 1: spared when it came to the way that they shared
- 5:43Speaker 1: their baby news. So they hired a professional photographer to
- 5:47Speaker 1: capture a rather glamorous beachside pregnancy shoot. See, I actually
- 5:51Speaker 1: found it a little bit millennial. I know some influencers
- 5:54Speaker 1: recently have done a beachside photo shoot. I absolutely loved
- 5:58Speaker 1: Chantel Stanton's, even though I was at the beach, like
- 6:00Speaker 1: the photos are absolutely stunning. But There was something a
- 6:02Speaker 1: little bit too posed about it, I felt. Was it
- 6:05Speaker 1: a bit tacky? Yeah. I mean, I feel terrible. A
- 6:07Speaker 1: bit chewy? But then again, I'm sorry, but if you
- 6:10Speaker 1: were in court and you owe someone all this money,
- 6:12Speaker 1: I wouldn't be then promoting the fact that you've got
- 6:14Speaker 1: all this money to hire a photographer, like get a
- 6:15Speaker 1: friend to take the photos. Yeah, that was probably why
- 6:17Speaker 1: I had a bit of an adverse reaction to it.
- 6:20Speaker 1: It was also so surprising because we didn't even know
- 6:22Speaker 1: that Justin and Tani were still together. They seemed to
- 6:25Speaker 1: have a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship, but it
- 6:28Speaker 1: seemed like the baby news brought them back together. Yeah,
- 6:31Speaker 1: because we had so many people hitting up our DMs saying, oh,
- 6:35Speaker 1: my God, I've just matched with Justin on Bumble. And, oh,
- 6:38Speaker 1: I went out on a date with him recently and
- 6:40Speaker 1: all he did was talk about himself. And we were like, oh, gosh,
- 6:42Speaker 1: so I wonder. Yeah, it would have been interesting to
- 6:44Speaker 1: know the timing of it all. In terms of the
- 6:46Speaker 1: caption on the post, Tani wrote, starting the new year
- 6:49Speaker 1: with the most exciting news to date. Cannot believe how
- 6:52Speaker 1: much we love you already. So grateful you chose us. Now,
- 6:55Speaker 1: Justin ended up commenting under the post saying, You're going
- 6:58Speaker 1: to be an amazing mum. I cannot wait. And this
- 7:02Speaker 1: was in a new private account that he'd made because
- 7:05Speaker 1: when the news broke of the alleged theft, he actually
- 7:08Speaker 1: deleted his original account, which had around 10,000 followers. And
- 7:12Speaker 1: there was a massive response online to this news. A
- 7:15Speaker 1: lot of people speculated that perhaps they were trying to
- 7:17Speaker 1: look unfazed by Justin's legal controversy, almost like playing it
- 7:21Speaker 1: down and removing themselves from the narrative. In our Facebook community,
- 7:25Speaker 1: one listener wrote, guess he was missing from court because
- 7:28Speaker 1: he was tied up at his pregnancy announcement photo shoot.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Another said, I hadn't even made my 2025 bingo card
- 7:34Speaker 1: and sure as shit, this wouldn't have made it in
- 7:36Speaker 1: a million years. There was also a lot of people
- 7:40Speaker 1: worried at the time about Tani and why she wanted
- 7:44Speaker 1: to make this pregnancy news so public. There were also
- 7:47Speaker 1: some fears that perhaps she was banking on Justin somehow
- 7:50Speaker 1: changing when he became a dad. And I'm sad to
- 7:52Speaker 1: say that it appears that didn't happen. So in May,
- 7:55Speaker 1: Tani announced the arrival of their baby boy, Arlo Leeson McKeon.
- 8:00Speaker 1: And she chose Mother's Day to make the announcement, showing
- 8:02Speaker 1: that it had been a tough entry into motherhood with
- 8:04Speaker 1: Arlo experiencing breathing difficulties shortly after he was born. She wrote,
- 8:09Speaker 1: no one can prepare you to go through the all-consuming
- 8:11Speaker 1: and emotional experience of childbirth only to watch this tiny
- 8:14Speaker 1: little boy be wheeled away from you mere hours later.
- 8:18Speaker 1: Then the hours upon hours I spent in hospital just
- 8:20Speaker 1: holding him in my arms, never wanting to leave and
- 8:22Speaker 1: crying when I had to. Now, interestingly, in the announcement,
- 8:26Speaker 1: there was no reference to Justin. There also wasn't a
- 8:29Speaker 1: photo of him with his son. Out of the 12
- 8:32Speaker 1: photos in the carousel, Justin only featured in the background
- 8:35Speaker 1: as he supported Tani through labor. It was in stark
- 8:38Speaker 1: contrast to the pregnancy announcement. He also didn't comment. on
- 8:42Speaker 1: the announcement. He also wasn't a collaborator on the post,
- 8:45Speaker 1: which was a bit of a giveaway as well. Now
- 8:48Speaker 1: by father's day, Tani appeared to throw further shade at Justin.
- 8:51Speaker 1: So in a post to Instagram, she shared a photo
- 8:54Speaker 1: of her cuddling Arlo on the couch and captioned it.
- 8:56Speaker 1: I know some incredible dads and I hope they each
- 8:59Speaker 1: have a beautiful day today. Although happy father's day to
- 9:02Speaker 1: all the mamas out there doing both. Yeah. That speaks volumes,
- 9:06Speaker 1: doesn't it? Yeah. I mean, The other thing is when
- 9:09Speaker 1: Justin and Tarni originally made their pregnancy announcement at the
- 9:12Speaker 1: start of the year, a lot of followers were concerned
- 9:14Speaker 1: about how this news would affect Olivia because she was
- 9:18Speaker 1: undergoing fertility treatment while she was married to Justin. And
- 9:22Speaker 1: she actually made the decision to break up with Justin
- 9:25Speaker 1: the day before she was set to undergo a fertility
- 9:27Speaker 1: procedure because she realized that the thought of being pregnant
- 9:30Speaker 1: to him made her feel really scared. And I think
- 9:33Speaker 1: that was why there was so much fear for Tarni.
- 9:37Speaker 1: and how he would act in that situation. The thing is,
- 9:40Speaker 1: Olivia didn't really keep her followers guessing how she felt
- 9:43Speaker 1: about it in her podcast. She said that she essentially
- 9:46Speaker 1: felt like she had dodged a bullet and that she
- 9:49Speaker 1: was in a really happy place with her new boyfriend,
- 9:51Speaker 1: Hugo Brakey. Yeah, well, in November, the whole internet collectively
- 9:56Speaker 1: rejoiced when Olivia shared the news that she and Hugo
- 9:59Speaker 1: were expecting their first child. It did come as a
- 10:01Speaker 1: bit of a surprise though, because we were very open
- 10:04Speaker 1: with the fact that we were on engagement watch ever
- 10:06Speaker 1: since Hugo appeared on Olivia's podcast. I still think a
- 10:11Speaker 1: Christmas proposal could be happening because they are actually finding
- 10:14Speaker 1: out the gender of their baby on Christmas day. We're
- 10:17Speaker 1: obviously pre-recording this podcast before Christmas, so who knows if
- 10:21Speaker 1: that has happened. Let's just manifest it, put it out there.
- 10:23Speaker 1: I want to see another Olivia wedding. It sounded as
- 10:26Speaker 1: though Olivia and Hugo were pretty surprised by the baby
- 10:29Speaker 1: news because Olivia revealed on her own podcast that they
- 10:32Speaker 1: weren't actually trying to conceive. So she ended up taking
- 10:36Speaker 1: a pregnancy test after her period was a couple of
- 10:38Speaker 1: days late. So she found out at around the four-week mark.
- 10:42Speaker 1: That is such an early time to find out. That
- 10:44Speaker 1: would make your pregnancy feel like it was just going
- 10:46Speaker 1: on forever. That's when I think I found out the
- 10:48Speaker 1: three or four-week mark. Yeah, and I remember by 12
- 10:51Speaker 1: weeks or something, we're like, oh, this is only 12 weeks. Yeah,
- 10:54Speaker 1: this is going on forever. Now, she ended up filming
- 10:57Speaker 1: herself and she explained that she filmed herself because she
- 11:01Speaker 1: thought that this was going to be one of many
- 11:02Speaker 1: negative tests on her journey to conceive. However, it was,
- 11:05Speaker 1: of course, positive. And you could just see the shock
- 11:08Speaker 1: in her face. And Hugo ended up coming in. And
- 11:11Speaker 1: I love that guy. I mean, he just seems like
- 11:13Speaker 1: such a sweetheart. But let's hope it's actually, you know,
- 11:15Speaker 1: when people get painted a particular way online, I genuinely
- 11:18Speaker 1: think he is that way. Like he just seems like
- 11:19Speaker 1: a really nice guy because his response was really cute.
- 11:22Speaker 1: He hugged her and he just said, it's good news.
- 11:25Speaker 1: It's good news. Yeah. I mean, Justin always seemed like
- 11:28Speaker 1: the picture perfect boyfriend of Instagram. So you just never know.
- 11:30Speaker 1: But I do think after listening to that podcast that
- 11:33Speaker 1: Hugo was on that he's a great guy. Yeah. I
- 11:36Speaker 1: was about to say I'm so excited to follow Olivia
- 11:38Speaker 1: on her motherhood journey, but unfortunately we are blocked. Well,
- 11:40Speaker 1: we can still see her TikTok. Don't put that out there.
- 11:42Speaker 1: She might block us on that too. Coming in at
- 11:46Speaker 1: eighth spot is the Sabi scandal. So the controversial Aussie
- 11:50Speaker 1: fashion brand was accused of painting over Australian artist Tani
- 11:54Speaker 1: Kellen's work and uploading the results to Instagram. Now, poor
- 11:58Speaker 1: Tani was heartbroken about this at the time, and she
- 12:00Speaker 1: believed that this sort of brazen act was a form
- 12:03Speaker 1: of retaliation. after she recently started selling oversized t-shirts with
- 12:07Speaker 1: her artwork on it. Now, Sabi has made a name
- 12:10Speaker 1: for itself for selling oversized t-shirts, and she thought that
- 12:13Speaker 1: they might have been a little bit threatened by her
- 12:15Speaker 1: entering the same market. Now, this story came to light
- 12:18Speaker 1: back in May during a Q & A on Tani's
- 12:21Speaker 1: Instagram account. So she jumped on her stories to explain
- 12:24Speaker 1: that she was initially hesitant to open up about the
- 12:26Speaker 1: incident and spent weeks considering what to do. Now, she
- 12:30Speaker 1: finally decided that staying silent was not an option and
- 12:33Speaker 1: she was ready to speak out. So she alleged that
- 12:37Speaker 1: the Australian fashion brand purchased one of her paintings last
- 12:40Speaker 1: year for $ 3, 000. The piece in question was one of
- 12:44Speaker 1: Tani's favorite originals called Get Out of Your Own Way.
- 12:48Speaker 1: And Tani alleges that the local fashion brand in question,
- 12:51Speaker 1: who she chose not to actually name at the time,
- 12:53Speaker 1: painted over her artwork and posted them doing so online. Now,
- 12:58Speaker 1: despite Tani not naming the brand, it wasn't long until
- 13:01Speaker 1: her followers put the dots together and realized that she
- 13:04Speaker 1: was referring to clothing brand Sabi, which is owned by
- 13:07Speaker 1: husband and wife team Jace McDonald and Ash Tardrew. What
- 13:11Speaker 1: sparked all of this is that a couple of weeks prior,
- 13:14Speaker 1: Ash uploaded a video of her painting over another piece
- 13:19Speaker 1: of artwork. Now, the canvas in question was to go
- 13:22Speaker 1: over her bed. And in true Sabi style, she sprawled
- 13:25Speaker 1: this massive positive affirmation across it. And the whole thing
- 13:29Speaker 1: looked like a dog's breakfast. It looked terrible. And it
- 13:31Speaker 1: was essentially this love note to herself. So it said,
- 13:34Speaker 1: Dear me, you are not perfect, but you are enough.
- 13:38Speaker 1: Don't believe the lies you tell about yourself. You have
- 13:41Speaker 1: a magic inside you that no one else on this
- 13:43Speaker 1: planet has. And just because you can't see it all
- 13:45Speaker 1: the time doesn't mean it isn't there. Take a breath.
- 13:48Speaker 1: You're doing the best you can. And that is enough.
- 13:51Speaker 1: I just can't believe that someone would have the nerve
- 13:53Speaker 1: to cover over someone's artwork, allegedly, with a love note
- 13:57Speaker 1: to yourself about how great you are. Yeah, it was
- 13:59Speaker 1: all very distasteful. And in the end, the internet collectively
- 14:02Speaker 1: turned on the brand and said that it should be cancelled.
- 14:05Speaker 1: A lot of people were saying, what am I going
- 14:06Speaker 1: to do with my Sabi t-shirt? It kind of became
- 14:09Speaker 1: embarrassing to wear a Sabi t-shirt, particularly on TikTok. Coming
- 14:14Speaker 1: in in seventh spot is Bachelor Golden Couple, Georgia Love
- 14:17Speaker 1: and Lee Elliott's marriage breakdown. I'm still devastated about this.
- 14:21Speaker 1: Like I can't get over it for some reason. Yeah,
- 14:24Speaker 1: it's still really upsetting. I was hoping that maybe they
- 14:26Speaker 1: would rekindle their relationship, but that obviously doesn't seem to
- 14:29Speaker 1: be the case. Now, this news came after months of
- 14:33Speaker 1: persistent rumors that their relationship was on the rock. So
- 14:36Speaker 1: They hadn't been seen in public or posted on socials
- 14:39Speaker 1: together for over four months. It was at that point
- 14:42Speaker 1: where you're like, okay, it seems obvious now, but I
- 14:45Speaker 1: almost didn't want to believe it. Another massive giveaway was
- 14:48Speaker 1: that they both stopped wearing their rings and they also
- 14:51Speaker 1: spent Christmas apart. Yeah. And the writing was on the
- 14:54Speaker 1: wall when Georgia Love went on that solo trip to
- 14:56Speaker 1: New York after Christmas. Like it was very obvious that
- 15:00Speaker 1: they were no longer together. Well, at the time she
- 15:02Speaker 1: was actually inundated by fans asking her where her husband was.
- 15:06Speaker 1: And she shut down the rumors saying that she was
- 15:08Speaker 1: incredibly tired of the questions and that he was simply
- 15:11Speaker 1: at home while she was there visiting a friend. And
- 15:14Speaker 1: she went as far as saying, we didn't split actually,
- 15:16Speaker 1: best to stop speculating, least of all on my own page.
- 15:20Speaker 1: If I had anything to tell you, I would do
- 15:21Speaker 1: so myself. Yeah. So it turns out the couple were
- 15:25Speaker 1: trialing a separation before they made it official and Georgia
- 15:28Speaker 1: and Lee officially announced their breakup in March, just days
- 15:32Speaker 1: out from their fourth wedding anniversary, sharing a joint statement
- 15:35Speaker 1: on their Instagram stories. Georgia's statement read, after nine wonderful
- 15:39Speaker 1: years together, including four as husband and wife, Lee and
- 15:42Speaker 1: I have made the incredibly difficult decision to lovingly part ways.
- 15:46Speaker 1: Our relationship has been so special and we will always
- 15:48Speaker 1: cherish the memories, love and laughter we've shared. There is
- 15:51Speaker 1: no drama, no bad blood, just two people who have
- 15:54Speaker 1: grown in different directions and while still holding deep respect
- 15:57Speaker 1: and care for each other. We remain friends and thank
- 16:00Speaker 1: you for giving us privacy as we navigate the next stage.
- 16:03Speaker 1: I think with this statement, they really wanted to water
- 16:05Speaker 1: down any potential cheating rumours because usually when an attractive,
- 16:09Speaker 1: high-profile couple splits up, everyone automatically thinks, well, who cheated
- 16:13Speaker 1: on who? Yeah, and that led to people speculating perhaps
- 16:17Speaker 1: the decision came down to children, whether one wanted them
- 16:21Speaker 1: and one didn't, which is, of course, a very sensitive
- 16:23Speaker 1: and deeply personal topic. It all felt a bit Gross,
- 16:26Speaker 1: that conversation that was going on. Now, since the split,
- 16:29Speaker 1: the couple sold their home and there were strong rumors
- 16:32Speaker 1: of a relationship between Lee and the Project's Carrie Bickmore.
- 16:35Speaker 1: That was splashed all over the magazines. Yeah, well, that
- 16:37Speaker 1: all came to a head when Lee was spotted with
- 16:40Speaker 1: a new woman at the Melbourne Cup. So he shared
- 16:42Speaker 1: a photo to his Instagram story with his arms wrapped
- 16:45Speaker 1: around an attractive blonde. Now, the woman in question is
- 16:49Speaker 1: Mimi Hoyle. She has 5,000 Instagram followers and works for
- 16:53Speaker 1: a creative agency. The word is she comes from a
- 16:56Speaker 1: wealthy family and is in her late 20s, so a
- 16:59Speaker 1: lot younger than 43-year-old Lee. She definitely gives off old
- 17:03Speaker 1: money vibes. Coming in in sixth spot is Molly Mae
- 17:07Speaker 1: and Tommy Fury's reconciliation. So seven months after dramatically announcing
- 17:13Speaker 1: their split on Instagram, the couple all but confirmed they
- 17:16Speaker 1: were back together when they jetted off on a family
- 17:19Speaker 1: holiday to their happy place, Dubai. Listeners will know that
- 17:22Speaker 1: you were particularly thrilled by this reunion, Sophie. And I mean,
- 17:25Speaker 1: for months there had been speculation that the couple were
- 17:28Speaker 1: seeing each other again. They were spotted kissing on New
- 17:31Speaker 1: Year's Eve as well. That got my ear off to
- 17:33Speaker 1: a good start. I was so happy about that. Now,
- 17:36Speaker 1: in terms of this reconciliation holiday, an eagle-eyed fan was
- 17:39Speaker 1: first to raise the alarm, snapping a photo of them
- 17:42Speaker 1: at Manchester Airport and sharing it on TikTok. And it
- 17:45Speaker 1: showed the family of three lining up to board their flight.
- 17:49Speaker 1: So no nanny there? Well, actually the UK tabloid, The Sun,
- 17:52Speaker 1: ran with the photo reporting that they were accompanied by
- 17:55Speaker 1: a nanny so they could spend more alone time together.
- 17:57Speaker 1: I mean, I have no issue with that. I mean,
- 18:00Speaker 1: if they have the money and the means to bring
- 18:02Speaker 1: a nanny onto their overseas holiday, then do it. I
- 18:05Speaker 1: know it was a really contentious topic this year. Well,
- 18:07Speaker 1: particularly when you are trying to hash things out with
- 18:09Speaker 1: your partner who you've broken up with and it's all
- 18:12Speaker 1: in the press, like you need a bit of time.
- 18:13Speaker 1: Without your child there probably. I mean, you don't want
- 18:16Speaker 1: your child privy probably to a lot of those conversations
- 18:18Speaker 1: as well. How awkward for the nanny though. Yeah, she's
- 18:21Speaker 1: probably listening in. I'd have my ear to the door.
- 18:23Speaker 1: Cup to the wall. Yeah. Now the tabloid also spoke
- 18:26Speaker 1: to onlookers and one source told The Sun, you would
- 18:29Speaker 1: never know the troubles they've been through. They look like
- 18:31Speaker 1: a normal couple. Tommy was very protective of Molly and
- 18:34Speaker 1: Bambi and their nanny helped with the luggage boarding the
- 18:36Speaker 1: Emirates flight. They took the fast track lane and flew
- 18:39Speaker 1: business class, but were recognized by other passengers. I'd like
- 18:42Speaker 1: to know in that situation, does the nanny fly business
- 18:44Speaker 1: class or her and Bambi back in coach? I'd be
- 18:47Speaker 1: guessing that she would fly business class, that they would
- 18:50Speaker 1: also want Bambi to be quite close to them and,
- 18:53Speaker 1: you know, receiving the same sort of luxury treatment. Do
- 18:55Speaker 1: you just put that automatic window up when you don't,
- 18:57Speaker 1: you've had enough of it? You're like, God, can someone
- 18:59Speaker 1: shut that child up on the plane? Isn't that your child? Now,
- 19:03Speaker 1: Tommy and Molly fueled rumors further by sharing matching snaps
- 19:06Speaker 1: on their luxury holiday. And this was by the time
- 19:09Speaker 1: that all of the tabloids had posted about it. So
- 19:11Speaker 1: I think they thought, well, fuck it. We may as
- 19:12Speaker 1: well post our nice photos. Yeah. Even though it was
- 19:15Speaker 1: so obvious what was going on, we had to wait
- 19:17Speaker 1: for part two of Molly's doco series, Behind It All,
- 19:21Speaker 1: for her to confirm the news that we all knew. Yeah.
- 19:24Speaker 1: And fans were thrilled, but someone who wasn't thrilled was
- 19:27Speaker 1: her sister, Zoe Ray. She couldn't hide her true feelings.
- 19:30Speaker 1: So in the doco, Zoe shared her concerns directly with
- 19:34Speaker 1: her sister and also the world. So she was upfront
- 19:36Speaker 1: in saying that she didn't believe Tommy had resolved his
- 19:39Speaker 1: issues with alcohol and she hoped that her sister would
- 19:42Speaker 1: make the right decision and feared their relationship would be
- 19:45Speaker 1: damaged if she got back with the boxer. Now, Molly
- 19:48Speaker 1: conceded to the camera crew that... navigating her relationship with
- 19:51Speaker 1: Zoe was the trickiest it had been. Well, it seems
- 19:54Speaker 1: like Zoe Ray's fears were quite valid because this year
- 19:57Speaker 1: we were blessed with having season two of Molly's docuseries drop.
- 20:02Speaker 1: And in it, it doesn't seem like things are a
- 20:04Speaker 1: fairy tale between her and Tommy at all. In fact,
- 20:07Speaker 1: She said that she's got ongoing trust issues and was
- 20:09Speaker 1: haunted by the ghosts of the past, which it made
- 20:12Speaker 1: it seem like there was some sort of alleged infidelity there. Yeah,
- 20:16Speaker 1: there was also this really tense exchange that they ended
- 20:19Speaker 1: up airing between Molly and Tommy. And this was when
- 20:22Speaker 1: Tommy was about to go to his own doco premiere
- 20:26Speaker 1: and he was around all of his mates. And Molly
- 20:28Speaker 1: told the camera crew that she still feels uncomfortable when
- 20:31Speaker 1: Tommy is around alcohol. And she actually ended up hanging
- 20:34Speaker 1: up on Tommy during that phone call. Despite all of this,
- 20:37Speaker 1: over Christmas, the couple have been sharing picture-perfect family content.
- 20:41Speaker 1: So it's funny because even though we know all the
- 20:43Speaker 1: ins and outs of their relationship and it is a
- 20:46Speaker 1: turbulent one, Molly has put her hands up and said, yeah,
- 20:49Speaker 1: that's correct. Molly still treats Instagram a little bit like
- 20:53Speaker 1: a millennial in the sense that her feed is very
- 20:55Speaker 1: curated and she puts her best foot forward on that platform. Yeah, well,
- 20:59Speaker 1: her second installment of series two is set to drop
- 21:02Speaker 1: early 2026. So it'll be interesting to see how the
- 21:06Speaker 1: relationship fares and how they decide to paint it. I
- 21:10Speaker 1: cannot wait. Well, that is where we are going to
- 21:12Speaker 1: leave things today. Next time, we will be counting down
- 21:15Speaker 1: the final top stories of 2025 and it's going to
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- 22:02Speaker 1: the traditional land of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains.
- 22:05Speaker 1: We pay respect to elders past and present.