Gen Z's Royal Couple

 We idolise them. Overanalyse them. And project our own relationship ambitions and anxieties onto them... And for Gen Z, well, it's Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury. Or at least it was until this week.

On Wednesday the young couple who came second in ITV's Love Island in 2019, announced that they were splitting up...

Adieu
Edmund Blair Leighton (1852-1922)
Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-ND] 

To the uninitiated, this might seem like just another  reality-TV-star-turned-influencer break-up. It isn't...

It's hard to know why we care quite so much. Possibly it was because Hague and Fury were chief operators of the digital world - they laid almost all of their lives out online - and yet their love-story seemed real. We watched as they travelled the world together, with Hague vlogging as they hopped from the Maldives to LA, and built their dream home together in Cheshire after a major burglary in 2021. I'm 30 and I should know better, but I'm invested as anyone...

Ever since leaving the show the duo have ascended the ranks of the zeitgeist, going from Z-list reality stars to celebrities featured on British Vogue's social media. Hague's online profile earned her a multimillion deal with the fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing - she stepped down in 2023 after almost two years...

It's Hague, really, who women are fascinated by. Is she a "Girl Boss" to use Gen Z parlance - one time creative director of a behemoth fast fashion brand - or a vulnerable everywoman who posted videos about dissolving her cosmetic filler?

She seems to straddle multiple facets of modern femininity... To others, she's an aspirational figure ... Someone who has been open about the difficulties of being a woman in the spotlight: she has been criticised for everything from her mothering style to her postpartum body. Consequently, it's hard to know where to place her, which is exactly what makes her so compelling...

And the reason we're all so crushed is that now that those hopes have been suddenly dashed. For them and also possibly for us. 

"I didn't realise I cared that much," adds my Gen Z friend. "I feel like I've grown up with them in a way, as I am a similar age to them and got into a serious relationship at the same time."...

According to Coveragely, a social media analytics firm, Fury has already lost more than 20,000 followers on the platform since the break-up was announced. Hague's followers seem to have grown, with the break-up earning her legions of new fans (like me), eager to support her in her new role as a single mother - and see what she does next.

(Olivia Petter, The Times, 2024)

We idolise them. Overanalyse them. And project our own relationship ambitions and anxieties onto them. - You do all that. I'm glad I'm not a member of your club!

To the uninitiated, this might seem like just another  reality-TV-star-turned-influencer break-up. It isn't... - I'm definitely uninitiated.

It's hard to know why we care quite so much. Not hard, just unfathomable, incomprehensible.

I'm 30 and I should know better, but I'm invested as anyone...  Chronologically you may be thirty.

the duo have ascended the ranks of the zeitgeist, going from Z-list reality stars to celebrities featured on British Vogue's social media. Is this supposed to mean much?

And the reason we're all so crushed is that now that those hopes have been suddenly dashed. For them and also possibly for us. Does that mean therapy then?

Hague's followers seem to have grown, Why not use disciples instead of followers?