Maura Higgins has called out fellow Love Island alumni Shaughna Phillips after she spoke out on Molly-Mae Hague’s controversial viral interview.
Molly-Mae, a stand out star of the 2019 series alongside bestie Maura, has drawn criticism following an interview on the podcast The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett.
During the chat, she said, "You’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it. You can literally go in any direction.
"When I’ve spoken about that in the past I have been slammed a little bit, with people saying 'it’s easy for you to say that because you’ve not grown up in poverty, so for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct.'
"But, technically, what I’m saying is correct. We do."
She then went on to say, "So I understand that we all have different backgrounds and we’re all raised in different ways and we do have different financial situations, but I do think if you want something enough, you can achieve it.
"It just depends to what lengths you want to go to get where you want to be in the future. And I’ll go to any lengths.
"I’ve worked my absolute a--e off to get where I am now."
Now Shaughna, who starred in the 2020 series, has addressed the comments made by Molly-Mae, leaving Maura furious.
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Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague’s opens up: 'It's sad that at 22 years old you have to think that way'
Shaughna tweeted, “Molly-Mae is young, who’s had a lot of success really quickly, and not a lot of ‘life’. So I can understand why she holds those views. We all say things when we’re younger and look back and think ‘well that was stupid’ lol. No shade, I wanna live in her bubble 😂.”
Jumping to her pal’s defence, Maura, who last year split from Strictly Come Dancing winner Giovanni Pernice, tweeted back, “Surely you know as someone in this industry how lonely and scary it can be when the whole internet is slamming you. Your entitled to your opinion yes but I’m really surprised you commenting on this at all.”
Not one to be unduly dragged, Shaughna hit back, “100%! That’s why I tweeted this in her defence. She’s young and successful, it’s not her fault she has those views. Like I said, no shade, just jel lol”.
The SHADE OF IT ALL.
One fan then posted a screenshot in the comments showing a now deleted tweet reading, “If you’re poor, just don’t be poor ❤️”, allegedly posted by Shaughna.
CHECK OUT: Love Island 2019 transformations
Love Island 2019 cast transformations - RADIO SLIDER
1 of 28NOW: Tommy Fury
Age: 20 From: ManchesterOccupation: boxerWhat's your claim to fame? It's probably my brother, Tyson, but I'm my own man and I've said it throughout my whole boxing career. I don't want to be labelled as his little brother.
2 of 28THEN: Tommy Fury
A fresh-faced Tommy was destined to be a boxer from a young age, posting this adorable snap of himself to his Instagram page in 2015.
3 of 28NOW: Lucie Donlan
Age: 21From: NewquayOccupation: surferClaim to fame: The last guy I was with was Charlie [Frederick] from last year's Love Island. We got together a few weeks after he came out of the villa.
4 of 28THEN: Lucie Donlan
Surfer girl Lucie has always been a fan of the water sport, posting this stunning snap of herself to her Instagram page back in 2014. In 2018, Lucie posted a number of transformation pics to her social media accounts, showing off her two stone weight-loss.
5 of 28NOW: Amy Hart
Age: 26 From: Worthing, SussexOccupation: Air hostess / cabin crew managerCelebrity crush: Liam Hemsworth, he's fit. Ashley Banjo from Diversity is really fit.
6 of 28THEN: Amy Hart
Amy looks totally different in this throwback snap she posted to her Instagram page in 2017, to celebrate working as an air-hostess for seven years!
7 of 28NOW: Yewande Biala
Age: 22From: Dublin, IrelandOccupation: Scientist Celebrity crush: Anthony Joshua
8 of 28THEN: Yewande Biala
Yewande rocking her pink tracksuit and chain in this super-cute throwback snap of her as child.
9 of 28NOW: Anton Danyluk
Age: 24 From: Airdrie, ScotlandOccupation: gym owner Will you be loyal or do you have a wandering eye? That's a medical condition that I have… a wandering eye! I've never really been loyal in any of my relationships.
10 of 28THEN: Anton Danyluk
Before entering the Love Island villa, Scottish hunk Anton posted this photo on Instagram, showing off his incredible body transformation over a 16-week period.
11 of 28NOW: Anna Vakili
Age: 28 From: LondonOccupation: Pharmacist What's your definition of girl code? This is really difficult because the island isn't a normal place, the real world is different. I don't know how close I can get to a girl in a few weeks. If a guy likes me, I'm there for love at the end of the day, not girls.
12 of 28THEN: Anna Vakili
London girl Anna doesn't look much different from this Instagram pic she uploaded two years ago.
13 of 28NOW: Joe Garratt
Age: 22 From: South East LondonOccupation: Catering company ownerWhat song sums up your love life? 'How Am I Supposed to Live Without You' by Michael Bolton.
14 of 28THEN: Joe Garratt
Before he let the curls loose, Joe looked super cute in this snap uploaded with his friend back in 2015.
15 of 28NOW: Michael Griffiths
Age: 27 From: LiverpoolOccupation: FirefighterHow would you rate your looks on a scale of one to ten? I'd rate myself ten out of ten, I would have said nine but I'm a hero so it bumps it up.
16 of 28THEN: Michael Griffiths
We can't deal with the cuteness of Michael in this snap from 2014.
17 of 28Callum Macleod
Age: 28 From: South WalesOccupation: Aircraft engineerWhat song sums up your love life? 'I Just Haven't Met You Yet' by Michael Bublé.
18 of 28THEN: Callum Macleod
He only lasted in the villa for five days, but Callum's hair is giving us serious vibes on this school throwback.
19 of 28NOW: Curtis Pritchard
Age: 23 From: ShropshireOccupation: Ballroom and Latin dancerWhat's your claim to fame? I would say my claim to fame is that I'm on Dancing with the Stars Ireland and AJ Pritchard from Strictly Come Dancing is my brother.
20 of 28THEN: Curtis Pritchard
Ballroom dancer Curtis has always had his cheeky smile! Here he is pictured as a kid on a family holiday!
21 of 28NOW: Molly-Mae Hague
Age: 20From: HertfordshireOccupation: Social media influencer
22 of 28THEN: Molly-Mae Hague
Before dying her hair blonde, Molly-Mae rocked some stunning brunette locks, pictured here at what looks like a wedding.
23 of 28NOW: Maura Higgins
Age: 28From: IrelandOccupation: Model and grid girl
24 of 28THEN: Maura Higgins
New girl Maura looks a lot different in this snap she posted back in 2013.
25 of 28NOW: Tom Walker
Age: 29From: LeedsOccupation: Model
26 of 28THEN: Tom Walker
Tom has always been a hunk! Here he is pictured back in 2012!
27 of 28NOW: Amber Gill
Age: 21From: NewcastleOccupation: Beauty therapis
28 of 28THEN: Amber Gill
A fresh-faced Amber pictured her as a cute teenager!
The comments were awash with divided opinions, with one writing, “I agree with you Shaughna.
“I think Molly let her privilege show a bit much in how she phrased things. I’m sure she works very hard, but so do a lot of people who barely make ends meet. I like Molly and she deserves success, but maybe a bit more humility too.”
“She simply signed up for an easy way to get rich and famous,” said another. “She got money and fame handed to her, she didn’t ‘work’ for it. She got lucky. So, I think she needs humble herself and have some sort of humility.”
Another said, “Urgh, what a patronising and bitter tweet.
“People heard what they wanted to hear. I heard that as we’ve all got 24 hours, it’s what you do with it that counts - which could mean anything YOU as a person class as some type of success, not necessarily financial.”
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One more agreed, saying, “Surely rather than hating on someone for something that people don’t agree on, or think is naive, we should not be slamming someone you should kindly educate them.
“I’m not saying it didn’t come across the wrong way but I get what she was trying to portray. Slamming someone on the internet. This is not directly at Shaughna at all I just mean everyone in general throughout this whole thing.
“People love to just join in on hate trains. We have all said things in the moment or wrongly. But I would much rather be educated than just trolled online.”