How brand Molly-Mae and Fury could be impacted by the couple’s split

Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury’s shock split has sparked an outpouring of love - but also a raft of comments on social media questioning why everyone is talking about it.Within 24 hours after the news broke, there were more than 500,000 searches on Google related to social media influencer Hague and boxer Fury.

Social media was alight with new memes about the pair’s “heartbreaking” and mysterious split after five years, as their names went viral across all platforms with speculation running amok.To some, they are written off as another reality TV couple who perhaps don’t deserve the air time. But whether their critics like it or not, experts say their influence is undeniable and their shock break-up is likely to go down as one of the biggest pop culture moments of the year.Millionaire Hague’s impact on UK female fashion, lifestyle and influencer culture - plus the fact she became the most successful Love Island star ever - has been coined the “Molly-Mae Effect”.

And Fury - younger brother of heavyweight champion Tyson - has created global hype by fighting in sold out arenas against fellow YouTube influencers like Jake Paul and KSI, with his sights reportedly set on Conor McGregor.

On Instagram alone Hague boasts 8 million followers, as well as a further 3.6 million on TikTok and 1.86 million subscribers on YouTube where she uploads vlogs about her family's life. The term "Molly-Mae Effect" has had more than 35 million related posts on TikTok.

By comparison, Fury has 5.4 million on Instagram and 446,100 on TikTok.

So where does that leave brand Molly-Mae and Fury? Is their break-up just tabloid fodder, as some suggest, or could it continue to cause a ripple effect?

PR expert Nick Ede believes for the former it couple influencers, it will only strengthen their brands eventually - and the British public will be seeing a lot more of them "once the dust settles".

"Obviously at the moment it's so raw for both of them they're not probably thinking about the future," he told ITV News. "But from a business point of view, I suspect that she will make quite a lot of money and I think the same with him."

"Molly-Mae obviously is a darling with everybody from social media through to Love Island fans and beyond," he added. "And she's got such a massive following, but also a really strong sway when it comes to popular culture, brand, etc.

"I think she will continue to really build on that once the dust settles. People will be throwing a lot of money at her to either be the face of a fashion brand, probably more makeup or potentially a book deal about the breakup or a documentary."

On Fury, the PR expert notes that "boxing is in the family blood" and after his lucrative win over Jake Paul, more celebrity fights will be on the cards, while further endorsements and sponsors of ticket sales could follow.

Mr Ede said the split has generated such noise on social media, it will garner them attention from much further afar than the UK.

"I've seen on X and Instagram reams and reams of memes, of people putting up pictures of when celebrities or characters from films split up - let's say Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan - and say, 'that's my Tommy and Molly'.

"Literally within hours to create these memes about people splitting up shows that the effect of them is absolutely massive, and also it makes it global.

"Instagram and TikTok are everywhere, so people who are not even interested or know anything about them are suddenly going to be going 'who's this Molly-Mae? Who's this Tommy Fury?'

"With regards to Molly-Mae, she is always going to come out top because she is a bit of an icon when it comes to being an influencer. And she's now a single mother."

According to the latest YouGov poll, Hague is rated as the tenth most popular influencer in the UK.

She found fame and love on the ITV reality show when she was already a social media influencer, with the series sky-rocketing her career landing her the job of creative director for PrettyLittleThing - a role she stepped down from last year to focus on their baby Bambi - and has worked closely with other huge brands including Starbucks, BeautyWorks and Gymshark. She now owns a successful tanning business, Filter by Molly-Mae.

She has already released a best-selling autobiography, while she and Fury appeared on the Netflix reality series 'At Home with the Furys' which followed the lives of Tyson Fury and the wider family.

Hague has such influence that almost whenever she endorses a product on her page - whether it be paid or not - that product is almost certain to sell out or cause a spike in sales.

A Zara khaki leather jacket she posted a picture wearing on Instagram - tagging the brand - was even coined the 'Molly-Mae Jacket' after causing such a surge in demand, it sold out every time it was restocked.

Mr Ede believes part of the couple's appeal was that their lifestyles seemed achievable and attainable, describing Hague as the relatable "girl next door" who was successful in her own right as an influencer before Love Island, while Fury was from humble beginnings despite his brother's fame.

This - their relatability to viewers and now social media fans - makes their "currency really, really high", says Mr Ede.

"They captured the kind of zeitgeist of reality shows which only comes around every few years," the PR expert said. "There's lots of people who want to do it, but there's just a golden moment that these two have. For many, many years it was the Big Brother zeitgeist - but now it's definitely the Love Island zeitgeist.

"We went through this period with Love Island where in the first few seasons we got some big players, whether that be Olivia and Alex and Chris and Kem, and then we had a bit of a low moment.

"Then Tommy and Molly-Mae came in and suddenly had this massive deal from PrettyLittleThing and it made girls and guys feel they could achieve that, that they could grasp that, unlike the Kardashians, which you really don't think you'll ever get to."

Despite them being widely described as a power couple, Mr Ede pointed out that there were often times Hague was seen alone looking after their baby Bambi while Fury was travelling the world for his boxing matches. She even spoke about how difficult this was for her on her vlogs.

Mr Ede said: "A power couple is fantastic - the Beckhams obviously are a power couple where they are intertwined. But you never felt that Molly-Mae and Tommy did things together as a power couple.

"And sometimes when such a couple split, they actually become even more powerful. I feel that this could be the case with these two."

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