Remember the glory days of the early noughties when girlband The Saturdays were our inspo for absolutely everything? From the matching block colour outfits to the hit TV series Chasing The Saturdays (yes, it was a hit in our eyes, tyvm). There was a period of time where Rochelle Humes, Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Mollie King and Vanessa White ruled our entire aesthetic.
Someone who remember those days very well is influencer and former Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague, who loved them so much she decided to get the ICONIC Frankie short hairstyle. You know the one, with the huge side fringe?
Taking to Instagram stories, Molly-Mae reminisced on her 13 year old self being able to choose her own hair, writing, "While we are down memory lane 😂 😂😂😂 I just stumbled across this 😂.
"*walks into the hairdressers at age 13* 'I want to look like Frankie from The Saturdays' How crazy that this was my hair!!!!!."
The frankly inspiring photo also garnered attention from the real Frankie Bridge, who reshared the post and commented, "How different does @mollymae look?! 😂 suits you! Xx"
Molly-Mae loves a throwback snap (don't we all) and was born to be an influencer after she shared some glorious old pictures of herself and her BFF Stephanie Lam all dressed up in their Irish dancing gear. She captioned the snap, "Can you cope 😂😩🥺 @stephanielam."
She shared the snap from a trip to Ireland, where she and Steph enjoyed a weekend away watching the Championships.
Earlier this year, she also shocked her fans by sharing a flurry of HILARIOUS (her words, not ours) throwback snaps of herself back in her fashion college days.
Molly also shared a snap of her very first paid Instagram post back when she was just 16. In the snap, she is seen posing in her childhood bedroom in a red jumper and black hair bow.
"This was the first time I was ever paid by a brand to promote 🥺 I was 16! I got paid £25 for a post", she wrote.
Just like the rest of us, Molly cringe at some of her old photos, especially one where she was wearing denim jeans with HUGE rips and rocking space buns with the caption, "No one talk to me 😂😂."
In another snap, Molly was seen holding a Starbucks coffee (she hasn't changed babes) and camel open-toed shoes, "My toes are basically touching the concrete 😶😶😶😶 I'm upset."
At the start of 2022, Molly stirred up controversy when comments from her December appearance on Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett’s podcast The Diary of A CEO podcast resurfaced on social media.
In a short clip from the episode, Molly claimed, “If you want something enough, you can achieve it,” and insisted, “We all have the same 24 hours in a day.”
It didn’t go down well though, with many branding her “privileged” and “tone deaf”.
Following the interview, lots of people are wondering what Molly-Mae did before Love Island so we’ve done some digging to find out what jobs the influencer had before she was famous. You’re welcome.
What did Molly-Mae do before Love Island?
Before finding fame on Love Island, a teenage Molly-Mae worked as a lifeguard at a leisure centre alongside her sister Zoe for three years. In July 2020, the influencer shared a rare snap taken during her time in the role.
In the throwback picture, Molly looks rather unimpressed as she eats her lunch in a kitchen while wearing her fluorescent yellow and red uniform. She captioned the post, “This really killed me 🤣🤣🤣🤣 @ zoehague. Honestly I still have nightmares about this staff room.”
Molly also worked as a retail assistant in Boots in her hometown of Hitchin in Hertfordshire just two years before she jetted off to Mallorca to enter the villa. She’s previously shared a number of pictures from her time working the shop although she admitted she spent more time in the toilet than she did behind the tills.
“Here's me sat on the toilet. Hiding from shop floor..... which I did most shifts x,” she wrote alongside one selfie.
Molly’s retail career didn’t last long though as she eventually decided to pursue a career as a full-time influencer and managed to make a name for herself even before she appeared on the ITV2 show.
Molly-Mae Hague before Love Island
Molly moved to Manchester from Hitchin to focus on her influencing career and already had quite a big following before she was famous, with over 10,000 subscribers on YouTube and around 100,000 Instagram followers.
It’s a completely different story these days though, as she currently has 1.63million YouTube subscribers and over 6million followers on Instagram.
When she was a teenager, Molly also competed in beauty pageants and even won Miss Teen Hertfordshire in 2015 after which she donated her prize money to a charity combating childhood illness. A year later, she was named World Teen Supermodel. In fact, Molly is connected to 2021 Islander Sharon Gaffka as they had the same pageant director.
Following her success as an influencer and TV star, Molly has admitted she struggles to relate to her pre-fame friends. “I’m living in a different world now and a lot of my friends can’t relate to that. And even though I’m still the same person, my life and my circumstances, they’re just so different that you do just naturally, people just fall off don’t they,” she said on The Diary of A CEO podcast.
CHECK OUT: Love Island 2019 cast: their jobs before they went on the show
Love Island 2019: jobs before they went on the show SLIDER
1 of 37Amy Hart
Amy is the 26-year-old Islander from Sussex who has never had a boyfriend before.She worked as an air hostess and cabin crew manager for British Airways for eight years.On launch night, Amy announced on Instagram that she had left her old job to "start a new adventure."Amy has also taken part in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss United Kingdom in the Miss Beautiful International Pageant in 2017.
2 of 37Anna Vakili
Anna Vakili, 28, is a pharmacist from London, recognised for her 'Kardashian-like' features. Anna studied hard with her education and achieved a masters before becoming a pharmacist. The Islander has a Middle Eastern background and is a popular figure on Instagram (according to Sherif).A source told The Mirror, "Anna is well known in the London clubbing scene. She loves the attention of nights out and you'll always find her in the VIP section surrounded by men".
3 of 37Joe Garratt
Joe is a 22-year-old sandwich maker from South East London.He owns his own catering company, but used to be a semi-professional rugby player.Joe even brought his own sandwich platter to his photoshoot for the Love Island press day, made up of his signature filling, called the "Joe Special".
4 of 37Michael Griffiths
Michael is a straight-talking Scouser and real life hero who saves lives for a living. The 27-year-old firefighter from Liverpool entered the iconic Spanish villa on the opening night and revealed that he also has a degree in bio medical science.
5 of 37Yewande Biala
Yewande is the 23-year-old scientist from Dublin who is in the villa to find her dream man. Yewande has specialised in finding a cure for cancer after starting her degree at the age of 16. She used to work 60 hours a week as an oncology vaccine specialist.
6 of 37Sherif Lanre
Sherif Lanre, 20, is from Lambeth and worked as a chef and semi-pro rugby player before entering the Love Island villa. The London lad regularly shares videos of himself on Instagram coaching a gym class.He said, "I'm upbeat and cheeky and outrageous with my own friends so hopefully that continues in the villa. I'm always on a mission to make people laugh."
7 of 37Anton Danyluk
Anton claims to be the first ever Scottish man to appear on the ITV2 dating show. The 24-year-old is a proud gym owner who displayed his self-confidence in his Love Island introduction video. He confessed, "That's a medical condition that I have... a wandering eye! "I've never really been loyal in any of my relationships."
8 of 37Callum Macleod
Before going on the show, Callum worked as an aircraft engineer in South Wales. The 28-year-old hunk shares his name with a British racing car driver and a cricketer, but strangely is related to neither of them. Callum enjoys playing rugby in his free time and appears to be a family man, regularly sharing snaps of his loved ones on social media. He also enjoys luxury holidays and nights out, with Instagram snaps showing various nightclubs and shots from Ibiza, Marbella and Dubai.
9 of 37Lucie Donlan
The blonde beauty from Newquay, Cornwall worked as a surfer and glamour model before entering the villa.Lucie likes the "typical surfer look" and previously dated last year's Islander Charlie Frederick.The male contestants are going to have to 'graft' hard to keep Lucie interested, as she confessed she gets bored easily and doesn't usually stay in relationships longer than six months.
10 of 37Tommy Fury
The 20-year-old professional boxer from Manchester is most well-known for his famous brother and former boxing World Champion Tyson Fury. Tommy Fury was trained by boxing legend Ricky Hatton and made his boxing debut in December in 2018.The fighter is pretty self-confidence and described himself in his opening video as, "honest, charismatic and charming".
11 of 37Amber Gill
Amber Gill worked as a beautician in Newcastle before strutting into the Love Island villa on the first day.The 21-year-old specialised in lashes and facials, but also worked as a model for online clothing brand Fash1.UK.She also seems to be pals with former Geordie Islanders, Ellie Brown and Adam Collard.
12 of 37Curtis Pritchard
Curtis Pritchard is most well-known for being the brother of Strictly Come Dancing professional, AJ.Curtis is an amazing ballroom and Latin dancer too, and has featured on Dancing with the Stars Ireland as a professional dancer. The 23-year-old dancer from Shropshire recently hit headlines in December 2018, when he and his brother AJ were assaulted in a nightclub in Cheshire. Curtis had surgery on his knee and suffered injury to his eyes and face while AJ suffered from bruising.
13 of 37Molly-Mae Hague
Molly-Mae Hague was the first bombshell to enter the villa this year.The 20-year-old from Hertfordshire claims her occupation is a social media influencerand she is really proud of how far she has come in her career. Molly-Mae believes she has done really well for herself and said, "considering the small town I come from, I've moved out, got my own flat and grown my Instagram following to over 150,000 to make it my job."
14 of 37Danny Williams
Danny Williams was the third male bombshell to arrive at the Love Island villa. The six foot two model from Hull caught they eye of another mega stature housemate, Arabella Chi.Danny is 21-years-old and has already made his mark in the modelling industry, having worked with GymShark, Moschino and Mr. Porter. The popular model has also featured on the cover of a popular magazine with Little Mix stars Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards. Lucky him!
15 of 37Elma Pazar
Elma Pazar is a beautician and was surprisingly the first Essex resident to appear on the ITV2 dating show in the 2019 series.Her claim to fame is that she has done eyelashes on some of the girls from The Only Way Is Essex.
16 of 37Maura Higgins
Maura Higgins, 28, was the third female bombshell to enter the Love Island villa. The Irish grid girl and model is from County Longford and has worked with famous faces through her modelling work, including former One Direction star, Liam Payne. In 2017, Maura starred in Liam Payne's music video for his single Get Low.
17 of 37Tom Walker
Before entering the villa Tom was a model and has shared plenty of snaps from shoots on his Instagram page. He's even previously appeared on TV and billboards. He rates himself a "solid 8" out of 10 and says he "appreciates" he's "been blessed" in the looks department.
18 of 37Jordan Hames
Manchester born Jordan Hames is a 24-year-old model who starred alongside David Beckham during Adidas' World Cup campaign. Talk about claim to fame, ey?
19 of 37Arabella Chi
Arabella became the fourth female bombshell and she just happens to be a model. She's worked for ASOS and has even modelled maternity clothes.Despite her job, the 28 year old has admitted she's reluctant to date other models because arrogance is a turn off for her and according to the star "you meet a lot of them in modelling".Her claim is previously dating Charlie Frederick and she's pals with Montana Brown who has revealed her sneaky motive for the show.
20 of 37Belle Hassan
Belle was a Casa Amor bombshell and the only lady who managed to get it on with Anton. She's 21, from Bromley and if you think she's great at doing makeup it's probably because she's a makeup artist.
21 of 37Joanna Chimonides
Joanna, 22, managed to turn Michael's head in Casa Amor. She's from London and before entering the villa she was a recruitment consultant.
22 of 37Jourdan Riane
Danny was unlucky in love - both Yewande and Arabella were booted from the villa - but he quickly got over it when 24 year old Jourdan arrived. Before going on the ITV show, Jourdan was a model, actress and influencer.
23 of 37Lavena Back
Lavena didn't last long in the Love Island villa - bless her - but on the plus side she has 50k followers and is a business developer, so she can always go back to doing that...
24 of 37Maria Wild
Another Casa Amor bombshell that we barely saw was Maria Wild. The 22 year old is from Cheltenham and if reality TV doesn't work out for her she can go back to VIP hosting.
25 of 37Nabila Badda
Before Nabila, 29, entered the Love Island villa during the Casa Amor stage she was a hostess in London.
26 of 37Dan Rose
Dan barely got any screen time, can you actually remember seeing him in Casa Amor? Us neither. Oh well, the 21 year old from Essex gained a few thousand followers and can continue being a bathroom salesman.
27 of 37Dennon Lewis
Dennon from Watford almost managed to steal Maura's heart in Casa Amor but it didn't work out. Luckily, the 22 year old is a professional footballer so we reckon he flew straight back to his regular job after being dumped from the villa.
28 of 37George Rains
Ahh George. He barely said anything during his time in the villa but he did spill the team when Closer Online caught up with him... The 22 year old is from Essex and if he's had enough of reality TV then he's got his job as a builder to go back to.
29 of 37Marvin Brooks
Marvin, 29, tried to luck with Maura but it wasn't meant to be. The personal trainer and ex royal navy officer from Bournemouth then tried to crack on with Amber Gill but she wasn't feeling it.
30 of 37Ovie Soko
Ovie. He rivals Maura when it comes to the best Love Island 2019 contestant. The 28 year old from London was a professional basketball player before entering the villa and we doubt he'll completely give up his career for reality TV.
31 of 37Stevie Bradley
Stevie is a 21 year old student from Isle of Man. The Casa Amor bombshell snogged Lucie but things didn't work out in the end.
32 of 37Harley Brash
Harley, 20, from Newcastle managed to turn bombshell Chris' head. The estate agent was booted from the villa days after entering it but she walked out with Chris on her arm, so not a complete loss.
33 of 37Harley Brash
Harley, 20, from Newcastle managed to turn bombshell Chris' head. The estate agent was booted from the villa days after entering it but she walked out with Chris on her arm, so not a complete loss.
34 of 37Greg O'Shea
Greg is the Jamie Jewitt of Love Island 2019. The 24 year old professional rubgy player (err, hello hun) is from Ireland. Obvs. His Irish accent is everything.
35 of 37India Reynolds
India won Ovie over straight away, maybe being the same age - 28 - had something to do with it? Or maybe the fact that the star from Reading is a model.
36 of 37Chris Taylor
Chris is perfect for reality TV; he's hilarious, unique and we can all relate to him - tbh. The 28 year old is from Leicester and is a business development manager. After entering the villa he revealed he had been creating a website alongside his friend: "The idea of it is a social support network for new and upcoming dog owners".
37 of 37Francesca Allen
Essex bombshell Francesca is 23 and she's a clothing store manager and co-owns her own Boutique. You go girl!
When did Molly-Mae go on Love Island?
Molly-Mae appeared on the fifth series of Love Island in the summer of 2019 alongside the likes of Amber Gill, Maura Higgins, Anton Danyluk and, of course, her boyfriend Tommy Fury.
Molly and Tommy coupled up on day five of the series and have only ever had eyes from each other since. They finished in second place behind winners Amber and Greg O'Shea they have since gone from strength to strength.
They moved in together in September 2019. The loved-up couple have even discussed marriage and babies.
How old was Molly-Mae on Love Island?
Molly-Mae is currently 23 years old and was born on 26 May 1999, meaning she was 20 years old when she was took part in Love Island.
WATCH: "Marriage and kids, one day!” Molly-Mae gushes about moving in with Tommy ❤️
What did Molly-Mae Hague say on the Diary of A CEO Podcast?
Molly 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, you’ve not grown in poverty, you’ve not grown up with major money struggles, so for you to sit there and say that we all have the same 24 hours in a day, it’s not correct.'
“And I’m like, but technically what I’m saying is correct. We do. 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.”