Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torba and coming up on today's show, Molly May says she was bedbound following split from boxer Tommy Fury and Megan Gaylee's surprising return, but first eight weeks out from her due date. Fitness influencer Sarah's Day is dropping
clues on her third son's name. In an Instagram story, she shared a mere selfie of her pregnant belly and wrote clue, followed by an emoji of a hand saluting a mountain and the praying hands. This was posted in our Facebook community and we have some very clever listeners. So many people are guessing the name could either be Everest or Rocky, and that's due to the mountain emoji. And I remember Sarah saying in a vlog that Fox wanted to call the baby Rocky, but that she wasn't
quite sure. And isn't that the name of Courtney Kardashian's baby. So I feel like Rocky is somewhat in vogue at the moment.
The other big.
Contender is Elijah so as one of our listeners pointed out in the Bible, it says the Lord told Elijah to go to the top of the mountain so that he.
Could speak to Elijah.
So this makes sense because not only does it relate to the mountain, but also the praying hands and perhaps saluting God. What makes me think that this really could be on.
The money is that.
Funnily enough, she is launching a collaboration with a perfume line called who Is Elijah.
Now, I'm not.
Saying that she's doing it to sell this perfume, but she does have a habit of becoming attached to the brand names that she works with during the time of her pregnancy, because she was working closely with White Fox Boutique when her first son, Fox was born. She also recently admitted in a YouTube that if Fox was a girl, he was going to be called Bloom, and at the time, she had just launched a product called body Bloom.
Well, we'll have to wigh and see.
I think Sarah is going to release a few more clues in the next eight weeks. How do you feel about people dropping clues baby names. Do you think it's a bit of fun or do you feel like it's someone cashing in on the birth of their child. Look in this instance, I just think it's a bit of fun. Everybody is waiting with anticipation to see what Sarah calls her third child, and she's just giving her followers what
they want, a few clues. I'm surprised she only shared this as an Instagram story and not a feed post, because I thought that she would have liked people to guess in the comment section. But at the same time, maybe she was worried that too many people would guess the name and it would fill up the comment section and it would no longer be a surprise. You know, when you know the answer to a question and it seems so obvious the clue to think about, Like, I wonder if it feels like that for them.
I just I'm really looking forward to just like I say, pressing on.
Molly may Haigu has returned to YouTube just two weeks after announcing her shock split from boxer Tommy Fury. The UK influencer has been under pressure to make an online comeback, with her secret project set to be unveiled in.
A few days.
Sophy off the bat this video was giving vibes of a tell all Yeah, it really did have all the right ingredients to be one of those iconics, sit down, tell all videos. So it was entitled high with a little black love heart emoji and in the thumb. Now, Molly looked very serious and I have never clicked on a video so far, so we had so many.
People setting this through to us.
Well. She also looked very glammed up in comparison to how she normally comes across on YouTube. She's often stripped back, she'll have a hair bag, but this time her hair was down, her makeup was on points. Yeah, well, she would have been aware of just how many people would be tuning in and how many news publications would be scrutinizing how she looked, because I really think how you present yourself says so much without you having to say anything.
And I know people are throwing around this sort of jokey line that she's the people's princess, but it really felt like she had this cool, rich girl vibes and she was a princess who was addressing the nation on a very important matter. And she kicked things off by saying she hadn't made a plan of what she wanted to say realistically, though, Prior to filming, Molly and her manager Fran would have devised exactly how to tackle this scandal.
There is a secret project in the works, and there's so much media scrutiny at the moment that this video really had to hit the right notes for her. And I think a lot of strategy would have been put into what Molly said and more importantly, what she didn't say.
Well, I agree, but.
I think what Molly was saying is she hasn't written out some statement. She's not reading off an auto que. It came across as very real what she was saying. Of course, they probably came up with a few dot points. Yeah, And I think that this is why she's such a successful blogger, is because she connects with her audience so well, and she makes you feel like you're a friend. And if she was sitting there delivering some scripted piece, I
don't think it would feel so authentic. Now, it did become clear straight off the bat that we weren't going to be getting all of the dirty details. So she acknowledged that she knows a lot of people will have clicked on the video expecting for her to spill the tea and get an explanation of what happened, but that was never something that she was going to do.
Here's part of what she said.
I don't really ever plan on talking about the last couple of weeks. I just it's not something that I feel comfortable with. And I know a lot of you will be like, we want to know what's going on. But it's just like I say, this is real life. It is not drama. It is not tea. It is not a publicity stunt like this is as much as I wish it was, this is real life. And it's very sad and it's very deep, and I just don't feel not even ready. It's not that I don't feel ready,
it's that I just don't. It doesn't feel right for me to come in here and talk about it, so also out of respect to Tommy as well, because it's
just not nice. And I feel like everything over the last couple of weeks has really it's been a lot, Like it's been a lot and been blown way out of proportion and gotten it's really carried and what's the word, It's all got a bit carried away with itself, and I think, yeah, the last thing I want to do is fueling that fire anymore and stirring the pot when it just doesn't need to be stunned.
It's interesting that she touched on the breakup not being a publicity stunt because there has been a lot of speculation online that Molly is trying to drum up publicity because she is launching her biggest product to date. But what stood out to me is that she said she wishes it was a publicity stunt because it shows that she did not want this breakup to happen, and something has forced her and Tommy to break up.
And that's the thing.
While she didn't go into the explicit details of what went down, she also didn't once deny the cheating rumors or put them to bed, because she did acknowledge that things had been blown out of proportion and people had got carried away, but she didn't once say cheating wasn't a factor. Please leave Tommy alone. This is unfair on him, and that was her opportunity to say something if it
wasn't true. Now, the next section of the video continued the royal sort of vibes I've been feeling of her, because she spoke about pressing on and moving on and whenever a drama happens in the royal family, it's always about putting on a brave face and looking forward. Let's listen to part of what she said.
I just I'm really looking forward to just like I say, pressing on, moving on and the birds. Just yes, sort of definitely not brushing it under the carpet, because that's definitely not what I've done. Like I've really been dealing with it and my support system, like my personal support system has been incredible, and I've gotten everything out obviously, like dealing with everything is still an ongoing process. But
I not swiping it under the carpet. It's just that publicly, it's not something that I want to go into or discuss for myself. And also out of respect to Tommy because he's Bambi's dad and I will always I will always value him and respect him and obviously always have a lot of love for him. And yeah, like we were together for five years and it's very very sad.
I'm really not surprised that Molly is keeping the details of this breakup private because she's obviously got her young daughter, Bambie who is involved, and that adds a different element to it. And also with the level of fame Molly now holds, she also seems above getting into all the dirty detail. Yeah, because she really has this different level of celebrity than other influences. She doesn't need to throw out these little crumbs or details or divulge everything to
us to keep us hooked. The breakup was announced on BBC News, so there's no way that she actually needs, as you said, to be dropping little bits here and there to get people's attention. People are interested in this story already. While she was really careful to not reveal the cause of the breakup, I don't know about you, Amy, but don't you think it was written all over her face?
You could just tell from her body language that she felt disgusted by his behavior, because she kept having this little twitch of her nose and her eyebrow would raise in a certain way. It was almost as if you know, when you smell something gross. It was sort of that look on her face, this look of repulsion.
While she was talking about you.
Can tell that she was visibly upset and almost shaken.
By the whole ordeal.
Yeah, And she finished up that section of the video by reiterating that the support of her fans has been helping her get through this difficult time now. Following the sit down address, the video then turned into a regular vlog where Molly showed how she'd spent the last week. And this was the part that I found the most fascinating because so many of us have been wanting to be a fly on the wall to know how she's
getting through this breakup. Well. She prefaced the start of the vlog by saying, look, it's not going to be anything great. Like people who know me, you'll know this is going to be a very mundane vlog, And I thought, fuck, what is she actually going to show, because so much of the last two weeks would have been her sitting around with her friends, probably bitching about Tommy crying.
But she actually showed quite a bit. I loved her.
The clips spoke volumes, so in the first section of the vlog, Molly explained that she was having a child free day and didn't know what to do with herself because she and Bambi have been joined by the hit for the past couple of weeks.
I feel like that was a bit of a.
Subtle dig that she's been doing all of the parenting for quite some time. She then said that Bambie has been experiencing attachment issues and can sense what's going on.
Here's what she said.
I think she can definitely sense that, Like obviously there's changes and things are strange at the minute. I can really feel that she can sense that, which is very interesting considering she's just a baby. To me, she's just a baby. She's not even two yet, and I feel like they're just not stupid, like they can ready pick up on things.
That was a really sad insight, and I think it made it real for a lot of people because there's been so much gossip and speculation on TikTok, but this just confirms these are real people's eyes that this is affecting. Yeah, there's a poor little girl whose whole life has been thrown upside down. Molly also said that she's been experiencing cabin fever and that she's been bedbound as well as house bound. She said her sister Zoe had been coming around to help with Bambi and that Tommy.
Had had her as well.
It was really interesting to see how she's been spending her time, so she's been doing a lot of self care. She went and got her eyebrows and lashes done, and also visited a spa and she said that the stress of the last few weeks has made her skin do crazy things, so she's been having huge breakouts and rashes, so you can see how much stress she is under.
I like that she knew so many people would be watching, yet she kept it real about her spa day because she said she almost shot herself during the massage because she'd had a huge coffee and it toasted before her and love. She went to the drive for the toast and she's like, a Heines been toasted, thank you, And they're just like, oh God, I've given myself the ck
naming the brand of you know, Hines. I just kept thinking the whole time all of these people like the messus and also like because she stopped off at this little pop up cookie van on the way home, all of the people were talking to her as if they had no idea who she even is, Like this girl's breakup has been placid on the BBC, the freaking news, and she's just stopped by to go and get this sweet tree.
Well, she also went into.
Boots and I was like, where's the paparazzi? Like Yeah, they've been camped out in.
The front of her house.
She's literally wandering along these streets, going to cookie vans, going to spars. At one point I could see her sort of look around as she was vlogging.
I think she was like, fuck, I hope no.
One really sees me.
But then she did point out her own fake tan. I don't know what was going on.
Well. That week, she also had a woman come in to organize her cupboard for her. So she said that with all of the chaos going on in her life, she needed her place to be sorted out. AKA, she wants to get all of Tommy's shit out of there and clean all.
Of the cupboards.
So is that the woman who was dumping all of Tommy's stuff outside in the skin? Oh? Most probably just get everything, get get it all out now. She did seem to put on a brave face for most of the blog until it got to the final scene and you saw a true indication of how she was traveling. She told her followers that she was dreading the weekend because she's so lonely.
Here's what she said.
I'm kind of dreading this weekend because I feel like weekends are crap, like when you're going for a breakup. I feel like weekends are literally the worst because weekends are always something for me that like I really look forward to, especially when you're in your family because it's family time and I don't know, it's like memory making time and like you always do nice things and I don't know, And I feel like weekends now I like the hardest time because it's fricking lonely and just sad.
Really, I felt so sorry for Molly when I saw this. It reminded me of a really bad breakup I went through where I was so miserable and I couldn't find joy in anything, and you just felt like there was like a constant knife in your heart, Like that is how she'd be feeling, but magnified. Well, it's clear that Molly's return to YouTube was far sooner than she would have liked it to have been, and she did say this was because of her secret project which is in
the works. So in August last year, Molly announced that she'd started work on this secret project, and this was where she was reportedly being paid a massive four hundred thousand pounds.
A money's insane.
The money that was being thrown at her from PLT Now, Molly said that this project has actually been two and a half years in the making, and that she started working on it when she was pregnant with her daughter Bambi. Now. Ahead of the breakup, Molly had been teasing this secret project and saying it would go live in September. Now.
She addressed this in the vlog, saying that she had contemplated pushing back the launch because she didn't feel like she was me He's strong enough, But then upon reflection thought well, why should she push it back. She's poured her heart and soul into it and it's a good distraction. The skeptic in me, though, thinks that they are striking while the iron is hot. They want to get this brand out there while she is still one of the
most talked about influencers and celebrities in the UK. The video that she shared just over the weekend has already got two point nine million views, so I think a lot of people will be invested in whatever project this is well and they will also be wanting to support her. Now they have pushed this launch out by a week, so we were supposed to be finding out about it on September first, but they've pushed it to the eighth to give her a week to recoup and get back
online now. She explained that the project is why she's made a return to social media so soon.
Here's what she said.
If it wasn't for my project, probably, like I probably wouldn't have come back as soon as I have done, just because there was not really like any need for me too. But because this has been planned and in the pipeline like years, I just I'm ready for it to launch. I'm ready for it to be here, and I'm ready for Yeah, I'm just ready for it to no longer be a secret and to just actually share with you what I've been doing the last years.
So what do you think this secret project is? Because I have no idea.
Well, one super.
Sleuth who I think should be working for the FBI thinks that she's cracked the code on what this secret project is. So she is a massive Molly May fan. She's a TikToker called Luella, and she has come across a Pinterest board which she thinks belongs to Molly May and is full of clues.
Here's what she said.
It has clothing and spo so of course I went over to Instagram and there was a new account that is called Maybe. I only had seventeen followers and it was only following one person, and of course the only person it is following is Molly May. So I then went on.
To since this TikTok came out Maybe on Instagram now has fifty seven point five thousand followers. I am one of those followers. I want to know what the news is as soon as it comes out. Imagine if it wasn't actually her account, this person's just like, oh wow, okay, it's just this TikTok has come up with her. It could be quite a good strategy. Now, following the discovery of the Pinterest board and also the Instagram account the TikToker, Luella then went on to Trademark UK and located a
store called Maybe. Now she did some digging and the Maybe store registration number is also the same number as one of Molly May's newly listed companies. So she strongly believes that this is going to be a clothing brand. And the fact that Molly May has proven through PLT that she can sell clothes, I think that this would be an incredibly lucrative business for her. Well, it makes a lot of sense why Molly would abruptly leave PLT
as well. Yeah, because when she was first announced in the role, she made headlines around the world for the size of the page packet and at the time she said that it was her dream job, and there are a lot of questions around what is she actually doing in this role to be paid that sum of money. Now, she was asked by a journal and she said, people get it twisted and think I'm in charge of the whole brand and I've come in and I'm going to flip it upside down.
But that's not the case.
I give my creative input when I can, and I give my ideas.
It's like she's an ambassador, well pretty much.
I think they just wanted to put her face on everything.
She's the star power behind it.
It really didn't sound like a strenuous job, though, did it amy like? It didn't sound like she was working around the clock in the office. She would occasionally reply to the odd message in a WhatsApp group come out of shoots, and I think that's why so many people were surprised when Molly revealed that she was quitting this job. This sort of seen as non strenuous job to concentrate
on motherhood because it seemed like the ideal job to have. Well, I wonder if she was forced to quit or she decided that she needed to get out of PLT before they discovered that she was coming up with her own clothing brand. I wonder if she was forced to quit or she decided that she needed to get out before PLT discovered she had plans to make her own clothing brand, because depending on the price point, this is going to
be a direct competitor of PLT. Well, there was a lot of speculation when Molly wasn't invited to PLT owner Umar Carmani's wedding last year, and this could be why.
Now we've got.
To touch on Tommy because he appears to have been inspired by Molly May's initial return to Instagram. So a day and a half after Molly thanked fans for their support, Tommy released his own Instagram post and it almost felt like he was trying to recreate the vibe of Molly's.
Post but failing. Miserable.
Yeah, it totally missed the mark. So in Molly's post, she appeared to be deep in thought as she looked out at this beautiful lake, it looked like she'd taken some time away a cozy cabin, which, funnily enough, we didn't see in the vlog. I was waiting to see some time at the cabin, but maybe that was in the.
Very early days.
It was very wholesome and it received a very strong reaction from her fans. At the time of recording, it has two million likes and over twenty thousand comments from fans sending love and well wishes her way. Now, instead of looking out ominously at a lake, Tommy looked deep
in concentration while doing up his shoelacers. Now this photo appears to be taken after one of Tommy's training sessions, as there were some boxing gloves in front of him, and the caption read these last few weeks have been heartbreaking. The false allegations about me have been horrendous. Thank you to everybody who was stood by me through this and
added a little white love heart emoji. I think Tommy needs a new PR person because Molly's PR manager, Fran is just absolutely kicking this PR manager's ass.
I mean, why would you come out.
With a near identical pose did he think that he was going to get the same reception as Molly. Yeah, because it was so awkward because he thanked his followers for standing by him, just like Molly did in her post. But unlike Molly, he hasn't received this huge outpouring of support. If anything, people have been openly hating on the guy
and been spreading rumors about his alleged cheating. I'm also been so many jokes about him being dumb, Like there's been so many tiktoks where people are like, I don't believe that Tommy was recording an audio book he doesn't know how to read, and it kind of plays into this stereotype because he looked confused about tying his shoela and I don't know why he was saying thank you for the support, because even at the moment, there's a new trend on TikTok where women are referring to him
as trash. So they will start the TikTok by saying, oh my god, I can't believe I've spotted him in the flesh, and they flipped the screen to reveal a large skip bin, like it's pretty funny.
I mean, it is mean.
It's also interesting that he used his return on Instagram to refute these cheating allegations. I think he had word that Molly was going to be putting out her video, and he knew that she wasn't going to touch on anything. She wasn't going to throw him to the wolves. Thought, well, I'm going to say that I haven't cheated because I'm not going to get caught out in this instance. If anything, I mean Molly's YouTube video, it only makes her look superior in.
Every way to Tommy.
Like, yes, I suppose in ways it hasn't made him look that bad because she hasn't gone into the dirty details, but it's evident that he's done the wrong thing, and so much public sympathy continues to.
Flow for Molly.
Yeah. Well, I was so interested to see the reaction in Tommy's comments section. Yeah so the top comment said, then tell us what you did, bra, which at the time of recording has had over eleven thousand life. I'm surprised the comments were even left on. It was very ballsy to keep the comments on, But then again, if you shut them off, it looks like you've got something to hide. I just think it was a really lazy
pr move. And that whoever is managing Tommy's socials and his pr response has gone, well, it worked for Molly.
Let's just put up Tommy's pictures.
Well, I think they were definitely trying to evoke sympathy for him and show that he's back in the gym, he's not focusing on the drama not working. But no, it did not work for him.
Look, I'm a very nostalgic kind of person, so and you know, and I know a lot of people are too. And I think it's great for me because it brings back a lot of I think some of my best memories.
After a decade long hiatus, Australian model Megan Gail is making her iconic return as the face of David Jones. The forty nine year old has been on the press rounds spooking the announcement, which many are hailing as an ingenious move by the fashion retailer.
It's been a ten year hiatus and in that time I've had two beautiful children. But my little munchkins are getting a little bit more independent. They're both at school now, so I've got one drop off, which I love, so I've got more time on my head.
This made me feel really nostalgic. Is so exciting to see her back with David Jones. So for those who don't remember, she stepped down in twenty thirteen when she was pregnant with her first child, and there was a bit of controversy over the decision because it followed the announcement that Jacinta Campbell would be joining the David Jones family. It almost felt like they were replacing Megan Gale with
a newer model. Well yeah, and also not long after the announcement, Meghan publicized that she would be designing home wares for Target, which is one of David Jones' competitors, so it seemed like maybe there was a bit of nastiness involved in it. But overall, I think this is such a clever pr move because it's really signaling to the world that David Jones is going back to its glory days. So its marketing team is promoting this as a new era, which is quite relevant for the company
because it's just announced it's under new ownership. It's quite funny though, because whilst I saying it's a new era, they're actually going back to an old era, which obviously did really well for them. But we're seeing this a lot with movies and TV shows. We're seeing all of these revamp programs that people felt nostalgic about. I think
it's a very clever idea, it is. And so in March this year, it was announced that Anchorage Capital Partners had bought David Jones about one hundred million dollars, which might sound like a lot of money, but for context, Wars Holding bought David Jones in twenty fourteen for two point one billion dollars, so it was sold at just a fraction of the price. So if you compare the success and standing of David Jones from when Megan Gael was the face of the brand to now, it really is.
Talking cheesez yeah.
And that is due to the fact that it has been a very turbulent time for retailers over the past five years, with the pressures from COVID and also rising interest rates and the overall cost of living, so those things do come into play. Last year, The Australian reported that David Jones stores across the country had experienced significant
drops in sales. Well, it's evident that this new owner is trying to bring back what people used to love about David Jones because they're investing more than two hundred and fifty million dollars over the next three years, and this marketing campaign appears to be the very start of this turnaround. So I just think it's such clever marketing because it's using nostalgia to not only gain widespread media attention, which we've seen, there's also reshaping how members of the
public view the brand. Again, I also think it's a great move for David Jones to platform someone who's nearly fifty, especially off the back of the negative publicity that the Witchery rebrand received when it was seen to exclude age.
Groups and larger body times. When did Meekin Gale turn forty nine?
That blows my mind, I think because she's married to a much younger footballer is Sean what's Sean Hampson from Richmond? Yeah, that she seems so much younger. I mean, she doesn't look a day of besore. Remember when it was like such a big headline because she and Andy Lee started dating.
I think that was around the time of her real heyday at David Joe.
I remember this rumor that was going around that said that Andy Lee broke up with Rebecca Harding, who is now his fiance, because after dating Megan Gaye, he felt like he should be with someone high profile. I like to think that wasn't true, I mean, considering there now together,
but you never know. With media times now, David Jones have marked this announcement by making Megan Gale the cover girl of their Spring twenty twenty four season launch and in this article announcing Megan Gale as the new face of David Jones. They have likened the connection between David Jones and Meghan Gail to that of Nike and Michael Jordan, which I thought was pretty iconic. I find it an interesting way that they've made this announcement by putting her
on the front cover of the magazine. Obviously it makes sense because she's a supermodel and she's stunning, but I wonder how many people actually read this magazine. But it's they even't just announced it on the magazine. They've put out a huge pr release. It's all over their socials, She's been all over Morning TV, It's in all of the newspapers. This is a huge announcement for them, and what I'm really interested to see is if this means
we'll suddenly see Mayer announced Jenn Hawkins come back. Because if you rewind the clocks back to the early two thousands, it was always Megan versus Jen, and the media actually nicknamed the rivalry the store Wars.
And when you thought of David.
Jones, you instantly thought of Megan Gale, and the same with Maya, you instantly thought of Jen Hawkins.
Were you a Maya girl or a David Jones girl.
I was a Maya girl, and I think that's because of how old I was when they were the wars going on, because they had the Missshop, so it was quite cheap to buy clothes from there. David Jones always had an older vibe to it. I'm elitist, Yeah, a very snobby vibe which I didn't connect with. Yeah, and any gen Zetta's listening, just so you know, being the ambassador of a store like David Jones or Maya in the early nineties or two thousands was like landing the
biggest influencer deal. There was such an intense sense of brand loyalty, and people like Jen and Megan could literally move product like no other person.
Ye.
I wanted to find out how much they were being paid for these deals at the time, so it was around fifteen to twenty years ago. Obviously money has changed a lot. I couldn't find an exact figure, but at the height of their notoriety, they were being predicted to be paid about one million dollars a year, which is
huge at the time. And if you look back, Meagan left David Jones in twenty thirteen, but Jen continued on and it wasn't until twenty eighteen that Jen Hawkins announced sh'd be retiring as the face of Meyer, and interestingly, off the back of it, Meyer announced there would never be another face of Meyer and this led to many media publications speculating that this was the end of the ambassador era in Australian retail and it did change things.
So brands like Meyer and David Jones, while they still had some ambassadors, they were very much on a campaign basis, so they signed ambassadors on for limited periods, where back in the day you would sign on for like a five year deal. That's because with social media there is always a new IP person.
Yeah.
I think the issue is that there's not as much customer loyalty as there once was, and this is why brands like Maya got rid of someone being the face of it, but now we are seeing Megan goalback. She has just signed a multi year deal. They haven't said how many years exactly, but they've said it's a multi year deal. So we just have to sit back and see what does Maya do. Do You also think it's because as a society it's been such a tumultuous time with COVID and the cost of living.
We need some stability.
We need someone who is the face of one of these iconic Australian brands, and we need to be reflecting on a happier time. Yeah, I think you've hit the nail on the head. People want nostalgia. Nostalgia is so popular right now, and to.
Be honest, it does actually make me go I would like to return to David Jones.
Well, I still shop there all the time. Well, I think that's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for joining us for today's show. If you have enjoyed it, could you please make sure you subscribe to Apple Podcasts and also Spotify. You can also follow us on TikTok and Instagram. We're at Outspoken Underscore, the Underscore podcast This episode was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Plaines.
We pay respect to elders past and present