Zoe Sugg #22 No strength in her core and still a total and utter bore!

[Lemonz]

Just watched Alfies vlog - she bought him a ring after they'd been together 2 years and now he's bought her this, one specifically for her middle finger not even her ring finger... if they're so secure in not getting engaged which not the ring finger.

 

[Creep]

Just watching Alfies vlog, yeah the ring thing in the title is crappy. On the flip side, if Zoe was really that OK with not getting married or had a change of heart etc - why did she seem so unenthusiastic about the ring that Alfie got resized for her?

I've been more enthusiastic about my fiancé bringing a chocolate bar home after work, nevermind an expensive ring!

 

[kingdomhearts]

I would love for Zoe to dump Alfie and have a slag phase

 

[Lavieenrose]

Lottie seems to have cut her hair shorter. It seems like no coincidence that Zoe also has shorter extensions at the moment

 

[Lilykins]

Who gets a promise ring at 30!!! A promise of what exactly?! If she has changed her mind at this stage of marriage and kids that’s fine, as long as it’s what she wants and not what Alfie’s convinced her to want.

 

[judgeydrudgey]

Who gets a promise ring at 30!!! A promise of what exactly?! If she has changed her mind at this stage of marriage and kids that’s fine, as long as it’s what she wants and not what Alfie’s convinced her to want.

30 years old, 8 years together...wtf? Such a weird situation. But even worse, they were supposed to be on vacation in the Maldives for her birthday. Imagine if they could have gone on that trip- he would have given her the promise ring on that trip, I assume. It would have been 1000x worse than when he gave her the necklace in NYC 2 years prior!

 

[lapin]

I think he’s a total control freak and thinks it’s his decision only and It will be whenever he wants, whenever it suits him, I think he thinks this is the only thing that he can control and so he is pushing it out it for as long as he can for all it’s worth. in his sad little mind that it is the guys job to do it. Which it doesn’t have to be. A bit pathetic really. I’m not saying you have to be engaged or married. But zoe clearly would love it. So if I was zoe 1) I couldn’t be with someone that Self obsessed and obsessed with control 2) if he genuinely cared about her he would take her feelings into consideration. It’s not a case of is he ready because to be honest if I was zoe and I felt like my BF was ‘not ready’ after how many years and shared assets and houses and businesses etc I would be extremely put off. It would not bother me if they just never mentioned it but the fact he is constantly using this topic for click bait and the fact zoe would say yes in a heart beat just makes me Feel really sad for her. Sad that she doesn’t have the self respect to know when she’s being made to look a fool. All because of a selfish control freak.

I've said it once and I'm saying it again: there is nothing wrong with proposing to your boyfriend if you want to get married and you guys love each other. There is a thing called feminism. Not every woman who wants to get married so badly doesn’t have to wait. If you love him and he loves you and the conditions are right, propose to him. And of he says no, then you didn't waste your time by waiting 12384737 years.

 

[Dillydally]

Many people choose to be self employed as it's better for them tax-wise. However, in the corporate sector I've mainly seen this with positions such as Consultant, IT specialist and such like where the salaries tend to be quite high. Yes the contract can be terminated fairly easily but such positions are very well paid and sought after so job security is not a particular fear in such roles. It's a bit surprising and uncommon for an office manager to be self-employed, I must say.

Sure this is true in certain cases, especially for skilled and high paid jobs like IT consultancy work and marketing/branding consultancy. I totally agree that freelance arrangements can be beneficial for both parties in a lot of cases.

Sadly, in a lot of others, particularly for those on lower wages, this isn't always the case. I had a similar experience to another poster here where I worked as an office manager for a company and was "self-employed" whilst working on minimum wage using their laptop and online systems. I had another friend who worked for a woman who employed a fleet of "freelancers" who all worked for her full time on minimum wage using her offices and equipment. The boss would fire workers with no notice when it suited her (usually when work was quiet or if she just didn't like them) and there was nothing they could do about it. My friend was audited for her taxes by HMRC and they found it suspicious that she didn't have any expenses - she had to explain that she didn't have any because she never had to pay for equipment, materials, travel or office space. My friend got out after that, so she has no idea if HMRC went after the boss. The govt. has cracked down on this sort of thing, but it's still very prevalent unfortunately.

In Zoe and Alfie's case, my hope is that their staff are paid with all the pros and cons of self-employment in mind. But given that Zoe and Alfie furloughed a member of staff they could have easily have kept on, even if in a different role, I am suspicious of their use of freelancers. But my suspicions could be totally unfounded and, for the staff's sake, I hope they are. Also, another thought I had: the furlough scheme only covers 80% of wages, so I hope the dream team at least paid the remaining 20% otherwise Hollie has been missing out substantially. I've got my fingers crossed that the person who leaked the furlough story will tell more about the business and how it functions - it will be the most exciting gossip to happen since we discovered Alfie's handling of a spoon.

One thing I do know for sure is that it is tit that The Mail put all the blame on Zoe and quietly absolved Alfie.

 

[Too Much]

I am not surprised by the leak re. Holly and the furlough scheme. Of course people like Zoe and Alfie are exploiting the scheme. I grew up around a lot of wealthy people and they were always happy to exploit benefit schemes when it suited them (whilst accusing the masses of being lazy welfare cheats). My dad's boss is taking up a new govt. scheme that's providing certain businesses with the money to build new facilities that will enable social distancing and improved cleanliness. The business has more than enough space and doesn't need this facility, but they are having it done because it will increase the value of their building. Basically, they're taking up welfare that they don't need for their own personal gain.

I'm actually more intrigued by the fact that Zoe and Alfie's staff are all self-employed. Their staff go to the same place of work every day, may even use laptops/equipment paid for by Zoe/Aflie and - if they work full-time at A to Z - likely do not have other "clients".

Employers forcing staff to be self-employed is a serious problem, and something both me and many of my friends have experienced personally. You don't get holiday or sick pay, no pension contributions and you need to sort out your own tax returns (not sure how it is in other countries, but in the UK your employer does it for you). You also have zero job security because you can technically be fired at any moment unless you make an additional contract with your "client". You are responsible for your own equipment. One of the perks of being self-employed is that you set your own terms and conditions - you are your own boss - but in these situations where you are an employee in all but name, all of that goes out of the window. The "client" will speak to you, treat you, and will have the same expectations an employer would. I also have no idea where it leaves you in terms of employment rights, access to trade unions and tribunals (e.g. you're being discriminated against on the basis of gender/race/disability/etc; you aren't being paid fairly; you're being bullied or sexually harassed).

Zoe and Alfie probably pay a reasonable rate relative to the job descriptions (£25k to be a personal assistant/office manager is very good depending on where you live), but it doesn't start to look so good when you take pension, holiday pay and sick pay into account. Freelancers charge more per hour than a standard employee because they take on all the risk themselves.

What an intelligent and enlightening post!

Sure this is true in certain cases, especially for skilled and high paid jobs like IT consultancy work and marketing/branding consultancy. I totally agree that freelance arrangements can be beneficial for both parties in a lot of cases.

Sadly, in a lot of others, particularly for those on lower wages, this isn't always the case. I had a similar experience to another poster here where I worked as an office manager for a company and was "self-employed" whilst working on minimum wage using their laptop and online systems. I had another friend who worked for a woman who employed a fleet of "freelancers" who all worked for her full time on minimum wage using her offices and equipment. The boss would fire workers with no notice when it suited her (usually when work was quiet or if she just didn't like them) and there was nothing they could do about it. My friend was audited for her taxes by HMRC and they found it suspicious that she didn't have any expenses - she had to explain that she didn't have any because she never had to pay for equipment, materials, travel or office space. My friend got out after that, so she has no idea if HMRC went after the boss. The govt. has cracked down on this sort of thing, but it's still very prevalent unfortunately.

In Zoe and Alfie's case, my hope is that their staff are paid with all the pros and cons of self-employment in mind. But given that Zoe and Alfie furloughed a member of staff they could have easily have kept on, even if in a different role, I am suspicious of their use of freelancers. But my suspicions could be totally unfounded and, for the staff's sake, I hope they are. Also, another thought I had: the furlough scheme only covers 80% of wages, so I hope the dream team at least paid the remaining 20% otherwise Hollie has been missing out substantially. I've got my fingers crossed that the person who leaked the furlough story will tell more about the business and how it functions - it will be the most exciting gossip to happen since we discovered Alfie's handling of a spoon.

One thing I do know for sure is that it is tit that The Mail put all the blame on Zoe and quietly absolved Alfie.

Times two! Not trying to blow smoke up your arse but I am learning a lot!

 

[PinkBogeyBreath]

I've said it once and I'm saying it again: there is nothing wrong with proposing to your boyfriend if you want to get married and you guys love each other. There is a thing called feminism. Not every woman who wants to get married so badly doesn’t have to wait. If you love him and he loves you and the conditions are right, propose to him. And of he says no, then you didn't waste your time by waiting 12384737 years.

It would honestly not surprise me to find out she’s already tried this and he’s declined but even that would not be enough to put her off him. I can’t remember what it’s called when you stay with someone or something because you’ve already spent so many years on it that you’re scared of those years being all for nothing so you keep wasting even more time on it instead. That’s Zoe with Alfie. One day she will wake up alone, past her best years for a shot at the 2.4 children and marriage etc, and he will be swanning off with someone years younger and be married/babied within the year.

I almost feel sorry for her.

 

[ECH]

It would honestly not surprise me to find out she’s already tried this and he’s declined but even that would not be enough to put her off him. I can’t remember what it’s called when you stay with someone or something because you’ve already spent so many years on it that you’re scared of those years being all for nothing so you keep wasting even more time on it instead. That’s Zoe with Alfie. One day she will wake up alone, past her best years for a shot at the 2.4 children and marriage etc, and he will be swanning off with someone years younger and be married/babied within the year.

I almost feel sorry for her.

It's like the sunk cost fallacy isn't it, she's spent so much time on him so far that she doesn't want to give it up because (in her eyes) she hasn't got another 8 years to sink into a relationship.

 

[PinkBogeyBreath]

It's like the sunk cost fallacy isn't it, she's spent so much time on him so far that she doesn't want to give it up because (in her eyes) she hasn't got another 8 years to sink into a relationship.

Yes, exactly this! It’s sad really because it’s almost like she doesn’t realise that if she meets the right person, it won’t take 8 years to get to this same point again. It’s only taken so long because of the way Alfie is.

 

[Noodlemcdoodle]

She mentioned about babies in her latest vlog. Bit sad really. I do hope she one day gets it. I think it will change her

 

[Chilli pepper 19]

He's blatantly just waiting to see if anything better comes along first before he commits. I reckon if he hadn't met anyone else by the time he's 35 he'll then propose.

 

[Chloesm]

To be fair at this point I don't think it's just Alfie being the child of the situation, but also Zoe.
I am so tired of her mentions babies, using misleading video titles and constantly hinting at marriage.
Reality is, neither of them is ready to face life and freaking grow up. They need to sort themselves out before being able to take care of children.

 

[Chilli pepper 19]

To be fair at this point I don't think it's just Alfie being the child of the situation, but also Zoe.
I am so tired of her mentions babies, using misleading video titles and constantly hinting at marriage.
Reality is, neither of them is ready to face life and freaking grow up. They need to sort themselves out before being able to take care of children.

Totally this. The only real love in their relationship is their bank balance

 

[PowerliftingOtter]

Poor Holly’s face in the latest vlog when Zoe and Mark started pissing themselves about something completely insignificant... she looked from one to the other and seemed confused, before smiling vaguely at them as it was clearly expected. What a job!

 

[eucalyptus]

based off linkedin, looks like most of the office staff are employed by gleam or by zoe sugg ltd

 

[Kg1234]

I found this interesting, it seems to be for a video editor.

It's quite hard to read but I think that I read most of it.
It's for an anxiety video and there are some audio problems and she says can you mute certain bits, something about Alfie's section being helpful and deleting a section that says leave your comments here.

 

[lizzolyn]

As awful as this sounds but I honestly think if Joe proposes to Dianne first or they get pregnant first then Zoe will have a breakdown.

I think all the youtubers/friends/acquaintances thats she known throughout the years that have done either before her she's probably gotten over it as she knows her and Alfie are together and they have a house and business and will happen at some point.

I just think if her younger brother (who is more popular now mainstream wise and by other youtubers) who has been with his girlfriend for not as long announces any of those 2 major life decisions before her it will tip her over the edge.