A self-described bad mum who claims to make almost £500,000 a year by showing social media followers how to exploit the benefits system says she'll never get a job.
Whitney Ainscough says she doesn't care about the hate she gets online for showing off how she exploited the benefits system for maximum gain.
She now claims to bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds in income from adverts before her videos on Facebook, and commissions from shopping purchases her fans make via TikTok.
The defiant 31-year-old tells her combined following of 954,000 people how to exploit the the Department of Work and Pensions to max out their payments, claim Motability cars and even get free phones.
She now uses her social media earnings to buy top-flight cars, treat herself to gastric sleeve surgery and Botox injections, and take her children out of school for luxury term-time holidays.
And she does it all while living in a reduced-rent council house - for which there is no upper limit to income once you're in the door.
Ainscough even compares herself to finance guru Martin Lewis - and says it's not her fault the benefits system is set up the way it is.
Instead, she openly admits she tries to 'deliberately wind up' people who don't like the way she operates - so they maximise her earnings online.
Whitney Ainscough, 31, has made a living on social media by bragging about how much she would take in benefits
Ainscough made her start on social media by sharing how to max out the benefits system
Ainscough also brags about her Mobility car - since replaced with a flash Range Rover - and gives tips on how to get freebies from JobCentres
She told The Sun: 'I was shameless about bragging about my benefits. I knew the more I bragged about getting Universal Credit, the more trolls and followers I'd attract. If you want to label me a scrounger that is fine - it means I get more cash in the bank.'
Ainscough, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, went on benefits after quitting her job at a pharmacy - but only after enjoying paid maternity leave.
The mother of three decided in 2022 that she could not afford nursery fees and childcare costs - and quit her job to join the dole queue.
While she sat at home looking after children Cora, 12, Addison, seven and Adley, three, she began researching how to make it big on social media.
She added: 'I had no option but to stay at home, care for the three kids and claim benefits. I couldn't afford to return to work. And why should I trudge to job interviews?'
Starting in 2023, Ainscough began sharing videos on how to live cheap - before turning to videos showing her children in designer gear after saving up her benefits.
One of her most controversial wind-up videos saw her packing her child's lunchbox with a vape.
In one video, she claims the JobCentre provides jobsearchers with mobile phones - before appearing to joke they can then be taken to a pawnbrokers for cash.
'Seriously: if you apply for jobs and you've lost your phone or broken it - just break it anyway - you can get a free phone to do your job searches.
'It's yours - you can take it down Cash's. That might be worth £80, £100.'
The video then cuts to her sitting in her car, speaking in a weightier tone as she says: 'On a serious note, this is actually true. The JobCentre will and can provide you with a brand new phone from Argos.'
Ainscough openly admits she revels in the controversy her posts create - because they help her make more money
She no longer claims Universal Credit because her income is too great - but still lives in a reduced-rent council house
She now makes her earnings exclusively from posting on social media, and through commissions from flogging goods on TikTok
Her weekly DWP payment peaked at £1,151 a week across housing benefit, child and adult allowances and additional child benefits.
In one foul-mouthed post, she showcased her £1,151.90 weekly entitlement as she said: 'Why would I get a job? I get your monthly wage in a week - so why would I put myself out and get a job? I mean I’m living my f best life, f hell.'
'My new mobility car pending, how nice... best bit its cost me nothing,' she said in one TikTok, showing her face over a pristine Kia Sportage SUV.
'I’m absolutely buzzing... I do have to put a bit of a down payment on it, but then my mobility side pays for the rest. I get it all... it’s brand new, absolutely buzzing. Me and girls will be driving in style,’ she bragged.
She came off of Universal Credit in November 2023 as her income from her social media activity grew too large for her to keep the entitlement.
Instead, she now flogs tat such as cheap pyjamas, vlogging tools, beauty products, handheld fans and cleaning products via TikTok, for which she earns commission.
She claimed to the Sun she made £60,000 last November and an average of £50,000 a month since.
Her earnings became so great she hired an accountant and now funnels her earnings through a private company, It's Me Bad Mum Ltd, so she pays less tax.
She concluded: 'It's not illegal. Benefits are offered for a reason. People need to stop moaning about people getting benefits they deserve -- and other people helping them do that.'