Love Island stars Molly Mae and Tommy Fury have gone viral for a very odd reason – a TikTok of them boarding a flight with a woman or may or may not be their nanny has taken the Internet by storm. And people have opinions.
Criticisms have been made not just of the couple potentially employing help to look after their child, Bambi, who was born in January, but because they had not confirmed this fact publicly.
Pictures of the couple checking in luggage at the airport and boarding the plane were added to TikTok, along with comments about a potential nanny. 'Wow she had a nanny? Interesting she's kept that quiet'. 'Anything to be relatable,' another added.
One critic also commented: 'So why don't they ever say that. They only ever make out it's the three of them. That's why people are shocked.' Another wrote: 'Now we know why she is able to travel with the child sooo much.'
Comments were also made at the fact that the flight flew economy class for their family holiday to Athens.
Due to the access that influencers – particularly reality TV stars – give fans to their lives, there seems to be outrage at not just their decisions, but the fact they've not briefed fans on said decisions. This is not okay. It leaves no room for nuance and empathy when it comes to individual parenting decisions, and welcomes unnecessary 'shaming' behaviour when we don't know the full picture of any family's life.
While one speculator suggested the woman could be a family friend, another rightly pointed out that there could be another reason that Tommy and Molly Mae hadn't disclosed if they had a nanny 'It may be the nanny asked not to be talked about publicly for her own privacy concerns,' they posted. It could also be for security reasons. It could also be... because of exactly THIS sort of negativity...
The big question is this – why has fan culture reached a point where we feel owed a disclosure of information like whether or not a celebrity couple has employed a nanny or not? It's understandable why an influencer like Molly Mae wants to appear as 'relatable' on her channels, and if she wants to talk about her authentic experiences of motherhood, then more power to her.
But to assume that both Molly and her husband – who are both worth a fortune – wouldn't hire help is to misunderstand their financial privilege, and to find their lack of disclosure offensive is proof of emotionally (And unrealistically) investing in something that is absolutely none of your business.
Not only is shaming any person for having a nanny in the comments a form of online abuse, it shows an attempted involvement in their parenting journey that shouldn't be encouraged or allowed – for fans of the couple, or for anyone for that matter.