Elle Darby Tweets: Youtuber’s racist posts revealed on Tattle - how she and Connor Swift apologised to followers

Youtube and Instagram influencer Elle Darby has released a grovelling apology to fans and followers after historic tweets emerged in which was racist and homophobic.

The 26 year old has also deleted her Twitter account after screenshots of derogatory Tweets were posted on gossip site Tattle.

The mother-of-one and her partner Connor Swift have since taken to Instagram to condemn their own actions and words, though thousands of followers have now unsubscribed to their social media accounts.

So, what did she say and how did the pair apologise? This is what you need to know.

Who is Elle Darby?

Eleanor, ‘Elle’, Darby is a Youtube and Instagram content creator with hundreds of thousands of followers across her social media channels.

She shot to insta-stardom in 2015 when she began creating fitness content on Youtube, with her channel peaking at over 610,000 followers in December 2021.

She creates fitness, lifestyle, home decor and beauty videos which include her, her fiance and their two labradors, Hector and Herbie.

In July 2021, she and her partner, fellow Instagram influencer and personal trainer Connor Swift, welcomed their first child, a son named Saint.

The pair live in Wiltshire and are expected to have a combined net worth of over £500,000. This is mainly through Instagram and Youtube advertisements as well as Connor’s clothing line, SWFT.

Elle’s popularity quickly declined at the turn of the year, as on New Years Day 2022 historic Tweets sent from her official account resurfaced.

In the Tweets, she made racist, homophobic, fatphobic and derogatory comments which appear to have been posted in 2011, when she was aged 15 or 16.

What did the historic Tweets say?

As well as using slurs such as the n-word, Elle also referred to immigrants as ‘meatheads’ who speak in grunts.

In one tweet, the mother-of-one wrote: "I hope this Polish t*** driving my bus this morn who nearly kicked me off cus I didn’t have my pass crashes."

Another read: "Why do foreign people follow me? I don’t speak your grunts, meatheads."

In another anti-immigrantion post, she wrote: "I just hate Polish people and Indians really."

A further Tweet said: "I really miss my laptop. Wish that effin charger from HK (Hong Kong) would hurry up. Come on ch***s, you’re upsetting me."

In another from 2011, she wrote: "This bus is sweaty and stinks of Indians."

She also commented about animal cruelty, writing that she preferred her “’pretty four labrador retrievers to my ugly, spiteful, mongrel cat. That b***h can go back to the RSPCA.”

Her fiance has also received backlash after one Tweet from his account read: “Looked like a black man after work, through all the dust I collected. #StillLookedhot.”

How have Elle and Connor apologised?

Darby and Swift took to Instagram in the hours following the resurfacing of the comments, but she has also taken to YouTube since then to reiterate how disgusted she was to read her own words.

Taking to Instagram, the couple wrote: "Christmas and New Year are traditionally a time for reflection and as such we decided to take some time to look through both of our histories on social media.

"We are ashamed to admit that we did not like what we found.

"The both of us were shocked, surprised and devastated by some of the language used in our very old tweets in particular over a decade ago.

"We feel that we all have a responsibility for our own mistakes and to try and take responsibility for our actions, especially the ones that don’t paint us in the best light."

"We are beyond angry at ourselves and ashamed that our behaviour will have been hurtful to some of you who have supported our family for so long.

"We can only wish for your forgiveness."

In a new YouTube clip released on January 4, Elle posted a three minute long video in which she described her 16-year-old self as "disgusting" and her Tweets as "awful".

She told her remaining followers that she would be taking a break from social media, as well as admitting she “did not even recognise [herself]” from the Tweets she read.

"The tweets I made in 2009 were so disgusting, and so far from the person I am today, they were racist, fatphobic, homophobic - I am ashamed, I am disgusted at myself.

"There is not one person on the planet who hates me more than I do right now. The pain I have caused to so many of you eats me up.

"To know that I was someone who you considered a great friend and this image of me is now tainted. I don’t even recognise myself to have been [that person].

"I hope you can see this is not the person I am today. I know those disgusting words and awful tweets will always be associated with my name. Since I made those tweets I have had better education in these last ten years.

She added that no amount of being overcome with emotion or apology could defend her words, and that she would be “taking a little time offline to further reflect on what’s happened to process a situation,” before signing off by saying she feels she will never be able to “forgive [herself]”.

Have her brand sponsors commented on their partnership?

Not only has she lost a massive number of followers since she was exposed for using hateful and derogatory language, her sponsors have also responded.

Elle was affiliated with a number of brands she had collaborated with in the past, with Bath Country Pets and Spa unwilling to work with her again, as well as Footwear Times and Natural Baby Shower Company.

Spotlight Oral Care have taken complaints about Elle onboard, and although the company hasn’t worked with her since 2020, they do not plan to do so in the future.

Since New Year’s Day, she has gone from over 610,000 followers to 595,000, a loss of 16,000 in four days.

At the end of 2021, Elle had over 785,000 Instagram followers and as of the time of publishing, she now has 721k. That’s a decline of 64,000.

And, Elle has also deleted the Twitter account which the screenshots appear to have been taken from.