GOING live on TikTok Whitney Ainscough clocks up hundreds of likes just by dancing around in her council home kitchen wearing a dressing gown.
The mum-of-three brags to her followers she’s in a ‘dancing mood’ because her children’s school has just given her an Asda gift card.
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When the likes and comments hit a 1k, Whitney knows she’s rolling in cash. Because – thanks to the TikTok creators’ fund plus associated advertising deals – each view means a penny in her bank account.
She thinks it’s mad, but doesn’t care. And now – set to earn £200k-plus in 2024 – she’s delighted.
‘A TOTAL JOKE’
“I left school at 16 with basic maths and English GCSEs but earn more than twice what the Prime Minister does and all I do is muck about on TikTok and social media for a couple of hours a day – it’s a total joke,” Whitney tells Fabulous in an exclusive interview.
“I used to be on Universal Credit and getting by on £1.2k a month. Now I can earn that in just a day while people watch me on social media.
“They are obsessed with me having my hair done or mucking about with my mates.
“I even make hundreds from posts about what I eat for dinner. Last night I had baked beans, hotdogs and some cheese on a kids’ plastic plate. That post earnt me £400.
“It’s hilarious the PM earns £164,000 a year and has to work more than a 100 hours a week. I am set to earn double that on social media, winding up trolls and dancing in my kitchen.
“Rishi Sunak doesn’t get paid to dance in his manky dressing gown so I am winning.
“I don’t care what the haters say. When you see my bank balance, I’m laughing.”
BRAGGING ABOUT BENEFITS
Self-confessed “chav” influencer and controversial former benefits mum Whitney lives in a two-bedroom council house in Rotherham, South Yorks, with her three children Cora, 11, son Addison six, and Adley, two.
As a social media star she boasts a staggering combined 350k followers on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. It came about after she started sharing her life on benefits in 2022.
Whitney unashamedly bragged about using Universal Credit to buy her kids posh presents and to treat herself to ‘tweakments’ like lip filler.
But Whitney’s ‘fame’ really took off when she shared how Cora was told off for wearing £100 designer shoes to school – despite them going against class policy.
Whitney used to work in a local pharmacy until taking maternity leave in 2021 to have her third child.
When her maternity leave finished in May 2022 the cost of nursery fees and wraparound childcare costs meant Whitney couldn’t afford to go back to work.
“So I went on benefits and received £1,153 a month from the taxpayer,” she says.
“I learnt to live by ‘smart saving’ on benefits. I could afford designer goodies for the kids because I budgeted carefully. The trolls didn’t realise I wasn’t fleecing the taxpayer and had a field day.”
COUPLE OF HOURS WORK A DAY
Savvy Whitney, who pays £450 a month in rent for her two-bedroom council house, soon realised the more she got trolled the more followers she got on social media and that translated into lucrative collaborations and advertising earnings.
“While people were calling me a ‘benefit’s skank’ I had my business brain on,” she says.
“I started raking in the cash just by mucking about and sharing my daily life.”
In September last year Whitney started earning above the benefits threshold and signed off Universal Credit.
She made £4k in December and in February pulled in gobsmacking £17k in earnings – which she does declare.
This includes advertising deals and commissions from her TikTok shop where she flogs a range of products including her dressing gowns, loo roll, fake flowers, boxes of crisps and lip plumping kits.
What are the reasons why you can be evicted from your council property?
Despite the outcry from some people, a council tenant cannot be evicted from their home simply for earning lots of money.
However, there are a number of reasons a council can use to end your tenancy.
Rent arrears
Not paying the rent is the main reason for eviction from a council tenancy.
This can include either owing a lot of money or not paying your rent or service charges on time.
Antisocial behaviour
This can include both antisocial and criminal behaviour either by the tenant, their family or a visitor.
Breaking your tenancy agreement
The council can take you to court if you break a term in your tenancy agreement.
This can include late payment of rent and not allowing people into your home to carry out repairs and safety checks.
Not telling the truth on your application
You could be evicted if you said something that was not true when you applied to join the housing register.
You do not live in your home
The council can end your tenancy if you move out permanently.
“I put in a couple of hours of work a day, lark around in front of the camera, and I’m rolling in cash,” she said.
“But I’m just a council house mum who used to be on benefits who’s cashing it.
“It’s hilarious people pay me more than the Prime Minister who decides on the fate of the country.
“I used to be on benefits getting just £1.2k a month. Now I am earning 250 times more than that.
“They should put me in charge of the country – or at least Chancellor of the Exchequer.
“Most of the time I don’t even have to change out of my dressing gown and I’m still raking it in.
“Some days I do an hour’s work. Other days I do a few hours with my mates and other times I just chat to followers while eating my dinner.”
‘RISHI WOULD BE JEALOUS’
And she said she bet Rishi, who is paid £80,807 for the role of Prime Minister, and an additional £86,584 for being an MP (an amount totalling £167,391), “wished he had her job”.
Whitney, who wants to buy a static caravan, is now desperate to trade up to a bigger council house.
“I need three or four bedrooms as the kids are growing,” she said. “Just because I earn more than the Prime Minister doesn’t mean I should give up my subsidised housing.
“Fair’s fair and just because I’m financially savvy, doesn’t mean I should give up.”
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