We have reached a post-tabloid era in pop culture where people no longer need to wait, or pay, to get the scoop on a celebrity break up. Instead, they do all the work themselves on social media. Within minutes of Molly-Mae Hague announcing her split from fiancé Tommy Fury, the sleuths were at it again.
Molly-Mae and Tommy met on Love Island in 2019, and, thanks to Molly-Mae’s existing social media savviness, they quickly became one of the show’s most successful and adored couples. In the five years that followed, they bought a mansion in Manchester together, welcomed a daughter called Bambi, got engaged and shared enough photos, vlogs and insights into their extravagant family life to make fans feel entirely invested in their relationship.
It therefore shocked the nation (it was literally a Sky News breaking news notification), when the couple announced they had broken up – just a few weeks after they celebrated their anniversary. One fan on X even wrote, ‘Molly Mae and Tommy splitting up is how I imagine it felt when Charles and Diana split up for our parents.’
Breaking the news on Instagram, Molly-Mae wrote: ‘Never in a million years did I think I’d ever have to write this. After five years of being together, I never imagined our story would end, especially not in this way. I am extremely upset to announce that mine and Tommy’s relationship has come to an end.’
While it has become standard practice for celebrities to announce their break-up via a social media statement, this one in particular raised a lot of eyebrows. For starters, it wasn’t a ‘joint statement’ signed off by both parties, Tommy’s statement came about 30 minutes later, and it wasn’t framed as a difficult decision that they reached together.
Like clockwork, people on social media were dissecting Molly-Mae’s every word. One person wrote, ‘“Especially not in this way” yeah Tommy deffo cheated on Molly Mae’ and another wrote, ‘I don’t think he simply cheated idk. I feel like Molly Mae is the type to have stuck beside him if he cheated like once.’
Although it’s natural to be interested when a famous couple breaks up, the level of speculation we have all become accustomed to is toxic. The finer details of why they’ve broken up are not any of our business. Molly-Mae and Tommy are also two people coming to terms with the end of a long-term relationship and what that means for their one-year-old child.
Unfortunately, in the age of the internet, a brief conversation you may have had with a friend in the office kitchen becomes a comprehensive social media investigation – one that pulls strangers into the drama from the ether, without their consent.
In this instance, fans are already retracing the couple’s digital trail to figure out what went wrong. For example, last November Tommy was spotted out clubbing in Dubai with Chris Brown and one video of him allegedly flirting with a girl went viral, with fans quick to accuse him of cheating.
Molly-Mae even addressed the rumours herself in a vlog a few months later, saying 'unfortunately this is what you kind of sign up for with the job, but yeah I really don't care what is said about me, Tommy, my relationship. I read things online and it doesn't even resonate with me because it's not true'.
However, it has been noted that their break-up has come around nine months after the supposed Dubai scandal. TikTok sleuths are not only suggesting Tommy got another woman pregnant, but they are trying to identify who the supposed woman might be.
One woman in particular, who has recently had a baby and appears to know the Fury family, has had to make her Instagram account public to speak out against the rumours. She posted an Instagram story of her, her partner and her baby with the caption ‘happy family’ and also posted a TikTok to say, ‘Tommy Fury is not my baby’s dad.’
As for Google search trends, Molly-Mae became an instant breakout search term as soon as she made the announcement, along with related queries like, ‘Tommy Fury cheating’, ‘why did Molly Mae and Tommy break up’, ‘Tommy Fury Dubai’ and ‘Did Tommy Fury cheat on Molly Mae’. It’s relentless, and it’s only been one day.
A spokesperson for Tommy has since released a statement saying: 'Tommy is horrified by the false allegations of cheating being circulated by the media and he’s consulting his lawyers.'
Not only is the sleuthing turning a sensitive and private situation into a bloodsport, but the whole ‘investigation’ takes away Molly-Mae’s agency. The reality star concluded her statement by saying, ‘Please kindly respect my privacy over this difficult time, I’ll be back when it feels right.’
With eight million Instagram followers and 1.86 million YouTube subscribers, she is fully aware that she has a huge number of people interested in her life and awaiting an explanation as to why her picture-perfect relationship has suddenly ended.
Fans should believe her when she says she’ll be back and that she will offer up as much information about her relationship as she is comfortable with. Those digging for drama are not helping. If there’s ever a time to respect Molly-Mae’s privacy, it’s now.