determined

POSING in the exclusive £300-a-night Soho Farmhouse wearing a pair of £100 wellington boots, Elle Swift proudly showed off her latest brand – a collection of oversized tracksuits.

But what should have been a defining moment swiftly turned sour and sparked a huge backlash. It’s the latest scandal to engulf the 29-year-old star after she was accused of racism, her American dream collapsed, and both her and husband Connor’s dads’ prison stints came back to haunt them. Here, we take a look at the struggles Elle and Connor have faced along the way.

Three years ago, popular TikTok influencer Elle was close to losing it all when a series of highly offensive racist tweets she had written as a teenager re-emerged online – she was dropped by her management, lost over 100k followers and was forced to publicly apologise.

Elle and Connor – who she married that same year in 2022 – made the decision to relocate to America for a fresh start, but after just 12 months the pair returned to the UK, with their future very much up in the air.

Eight months on, Elle was finally ready to reveal her rebrand. And last weekend, after much teasing, she finally unveiled Our Good Sunday, her new clothing line and latest bid to secure fame and fortune.

She was once very down to earth and while people get she wants to be aspirational, it is in fact just unaffordable.

Insider on her launch

But almost immediately, a notably slimmed-down Elle was hit with criticism, with an insider telling us: “The launch of Our Good Sunday wasn’t as good as they had been hoping at all.”

Fans questioned the extortionate price point and a rival social media couple teased their own very similar product.

While she has waxed lyrical about the high quality materials used to make the clothes, the price tag is nothing short of eyewatering. 

A plain hoodie will set you back £66, the sweatshirt is £60, a t-shirt £40 and a tote back £45.

The aesthetic Elle is aiming for is clear – the luxury location she shot the collection in and the expensive clothing she’s used to accessorise it are a clear sign. 

But the move has left her fans feeling angry and alienated – with one person commenting: “I was hoping the prices would be a bit more affordable, as a parent myself I can’t afford this luxury.”

Another added: “Most women/Mums won’t be able to afford this. Such a shame. I really think you should review the prices.”

The insider explained: “People are very confused about the whole launch and are struggling to understand why she would be charging so much for simple clothes. She was once very down to earth and while people get she wants to be aspirational, it is in fact just unaffordable and pricing out her core audience.”

Further questions were raised when she initially told her followers there was limited stock – but days later said they had ordered lots of stock to ensure fans would be able to get their hands on it. Her fans speculated that she had been hoping to sell out, so backtracked over how much stock she had.

A representive from Elle’s legal team told us: “We are informed by Elle Swift that she is proud to launch Good Sunday. The first limited edition collection is made in small batches from certified organic fabrics in Portugal, reflecting Good Sunday’s commitment to ethical production and sustainable practices. Each piece is designed to be special, and once sold out, it won’t be restocked.”

RIVAL CLOTHING LAUNCH

Negative comments appeared to have been deleted and a week on – plenty of stock is still available despite Elle and Connor relentlessly plugging the brand and hinting there will be more than just tracksuits. 

And in a twist that the couple weren’t expecting – social media’s most famous couple, Alfie Deyes and Zoe Sugg used this weekend to tease their new brand, which rather unfortunately is called Dear Sunday.

Our insider said: “Zoe knows Elle well and actually stood by her when a lot of people didn’t. There is no way she knew that Elle was doing something so similar but it’s all very bad timing. At the end of the day Zoe and Alfie still have the ultimate pulling power.”

Those who have followed Elle for a while will know it’s not the first time she’s launched a clothing brand.

The social media star, who went by the name Elle Darby before she tied the knot, was initially known for posting vlogs about her trips to the gym, plus the usual make up tutorials and get ready with me videos.

She launched Angelle clothing in 2019 – it featured a range of tracksuits and tote bags and was affectionately named after her followers, who she refers to as angels. It was a huge hit.

I didn’t speak to my dad for an entire year when he was in prison because he was too emotional to speak on the phone to his kids.

Elle on her dad

But in 2022, she announced that the brand was taking a break and she wasn’t sure what its future would hold.

Elle married Connor earlier that year after the birth of their son Romeo.

They went on to have son Saint in 2023 and in December 2024 they welcomed daughter Honey Jane.

RACISIM SCANDAL

The break from Angelle came shortly after her horrifying racist comments, which she wrote when she was 15, circulated online. She has since apologised.

In March of last year the couple decided to start afresh in America and set up home in Houston. It ended up being an incredibly expensive relocation and after having her third child, Elle and Connor decided to move back home.

Our insider said: “The whole America move ended up being a bit of a disaster really and Elle really didn’t want to admit defeat.

“It cost them a lot to move out there but also life there was very pricey and at the end of the day they were homesick. It’s also a lot harder to be a stand out social media creator in a country with many established names.”

Since coming back to the UK, Elle has been inundated with comments about how ‘glowing’ she is and how happy she looks.

Fans also questioned how trim Ellie has been looking just months after giving birth, with one person commenting: “Girl we need a weight loss journey.”

Another added: “I can not get over your hair and your body transformation, mum goals and motivation.”

AMERICAN DREAM AND PRISON DADS

The move to America was tinged with sadness – her mum Deborah had passed away in 2020 and her dad – Giles – is prohibited from visiting the States, so it meant she would be completely isolated from her family. 

Elle’s love of America actually started when her dad – a multimillionaire banker – was convicted of fraud and extradited to the US,  in the wake of one of the biggest scandals in business history.

The family spent nearly two years in and out of court in the US and Elle has admitted she loved that time, saying her dad made it a ‘positive’ experience. 

Giles, along with Gary Mulgrew and David Bermingham, was one of the NatWest Three – a trio of British bankers convicted of fraud and sentenced to 37 months in separate American jails in 2002.

Elle – who is one of five girls – was 10 when her dad went to prison for two years but has insisted it didn’t affect her. 

The brave influencer explained: “I think surrounding issues caused a lot more impact on my childhood than him actually being a prison.

“I missed him, I didn’t speak to my dad for an entire year because he was too emotional to speak on the phone to his kids.”

Interestingly, Connor’s dad was also in prison – and was absent from the first two years of his life, even missing his birth. 

The insider said: “The fact that both Connor and Elle’s dads have been in prison was a bonding experience for them. It does however haunt them both and no matter how hard they try to portray a picture perfect image, it does hang over them.”

In 2020, Elle suffered more heartache when her mum Deborah passed away on Mother’s Day after battling a brain tumour for five years.

The moment changed her life forever and while she spoke about gratitude a fair bit before, it took on a whole different meaning to her.

As she remembered her mum this year, she told her followers: “Five years ago this week my entire life changed forever. I said goodbye to my mum and had a humbling life lesson that the things we ‘think’ matter.. just don’t. Here’s your reminder that if you’re lucky enough to have love, you have it all.”

Elle might have had a few hiccups along the way – and her latest launch might not have had the impact she hoped, but she’s determined to succeed. And despite everything, it looks like this time she might just.

The Sun has contacted Elle for comment.

It was about 12 hours after his team blew numerous opportunities in an overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and Rams coach Sean McVay was still kicking himself.

And lamenting his team’s troubled kicking game.

“That has been a killer for us,” McVay said Friday during a videoconference with reporters, “and it’s cost us two games.”

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Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 26-23 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium on Thursday.

The Rams are 3-2, with defeats by the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the 49ers due in part to woeful execution on field-goal and extra-point attempts.

The Eagles beat the Rams by blocking two field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, including a potential winning kick that they returned for a touchdown on the final play.

On Thursday night, Rams kicker Joshua Karty missed a long field-goal attempt, and the 49ers blocked an extra-point try. That’s four points lost in a 26-23 defeat. Karty, who has been masterful at dropping hard-to-handle knuckleball kickoffs into the landing zone, also misplaced a kick that gave the 49ers the ball at the 40-yard line.

Karty, however, does not appear to be McVay’s most pressing kick-related concern.

The kicking unit as a whole has played a major role in both defeats, which also featured poor execution by the Rams at times in other areas.

“I can’t remember feeling much more disgusted waking up after a tough loss, than I have after the two that we’ve had,” McVay said.

So how do the Rams fix their kicking problems?

“Oh man,” McVay said. “I wish it was just one thing but when you watch the protection — we’ve got to fix it. And it’s not one thing in particular.

“There’s different locations and spots and people that have not executed the way that we’re capable of.”

After the Rams defeated the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, McVay thought the Rams had addressed their issues.

“Clearly, I was not right on that,” McVay said, “so we’ve got to fix it. We’ve got to go back to work.”

The Rams are off for the weekend, and they will return on Monday to begin preparations for a game against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore. After that game, the Rams will remain in Baltimore to prepare for their next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

“We’re a couple execution plays away from being a 5-0 team,” McVay said. “But the reality is we’re 3-2.”

McVay sounded confident that the Rams would rebound from the loss to the 49ers.

“This is going to galvanize us,” he said. “I promise you that.”

Etc.

McVay continued to lament his final play call against the 49ers, which did not give quarterback Matthew Stafford a chance to make a play. Stafford had moved the Rams into position to win the game, but on fourth and one at the 49ers’ 11-yard line, McVay called a running play. The 49ers stopped Kyren Williams for no gain, ending the game. “I know it wasn’t the best decision to take the ball out his hands in crunch time on that fourth down,” McVay said. … Rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson, a second-round draft pick, caught his first pass for a 21-yard gain. “We’ve got to be able to figure out a way to get him going,” McVay said, adding, “he’s going to be a really good player for us.” … McVay indicated the Rams might make moves to improve the cornerback group. “We’re going to look into those things,” he said.

Seventy percent of the 20 most destructive wildfires in state history have occurred since fall 2017, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

To understand the pace and extent of rebuilding in the most significant of these fires, The Times relied on data from state and local governments.

The Times obtained data in February from the Cal Fire Damage Inspection Database, known as DINS, which documents buildings burned in wildfires. We filtered for residential structures — single-residence, multiple-residence and mixed-use commercial/residential — that were destroyed.

We limited our reporting to fires that destroyed 1,000 or more residential structures during this period — aside from January’s Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County. There were five: Tubbs (2017), Carr (2018), Camp (2018), Woolsey (2018) and North Complex (2020).

The Times analysis showed 22,438 residential structures burned in the five fires. About 75% were single-family homes, 23% were mobile homes and fewer than 2% were apartment, condominium or other multifamily buildings. Because of data limitations, a multifamily building was counted as one residential structure no matter how many units it had. In its reporting, The Times used “residential structure” and “home” interchangeably.

The fires destroyed homes across 16 local jurisdictions. To determine when and how many homes were rebuilt, The Times in March and April collected certificate of occupancy data from building departments in each community. Additionally, The Times accessed data from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which regulates mobile home parks.

Using GIS software, The Times plotted coordinates in the Cal Fire data to match each destroyed structure to the city or county responsible for issuing a permit to rebuild it. From there, The Times merged assessor parcel numbers of destroyed homes from the Cal Fire data with those of rebuilt homes from local and state building data obtained from each jurisdiction. Finally, The Times summarized certificates of occupancy issued by day to plot the reconstruction timeline for each fire. For uniformity, the results are limited to homes approved prior to April 1.

The Times deviated from its methodology for a specific situation. The Tubbs fire destroyed a 162-lot mobile home park in Santa Rosa. Two apartment buildings for low-income senior citizens together comprising 132 units have been built on the site. Given that the Times analysis designated 162 mobile homes as destroyed, the analysis was adjusted to count the 132 replacement apartment units.

Overall, the analysis concluded that 8,420 homes have been rebuilt, 38% of those destroyed in the five fires.

The Times results could differ from reports published by some jurisdictions for two reasons: Local jurisdictions may have conducted more rigorous inventories of destroyed buildings than detailed in the Cal Fire DINS data and their rebuilding numbers can be continuously updated.