Tom and Giovanna Fletcher have issued a public apology for using the UK Government’s furlough scheme during the pandemic.
The couple, who are said to be worth £8million, used taxpayer money to furlough an employee last year – but they’ve since paid the full amount back.
Tom and Giovanna released a statement on the matter this week, after The Sun reported that they received “up to £30,000” through the scheme.
The statement reads: “Hi everyone, we have always had a very honest and open relationship with you all on here so we thought it was important to address questions that some of you have rightly asked us in the last 24 hours.”
“This weekend, there was an article in one of the Sunday papers about us using the government furlough scheme.”
“While parts of the article were inaccurate (including all of the figures mentioned) it’s true that we did follow financial advice to furlough someone we employ.”
“This was for a member of our team who couldn’t carry out their role due to the pandemic, and the scheme was suggested to us as the most effective way to give them job stability and security,” they continued.
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“Although it was a time of great uncertainty, we clearly should have thought more about the situation and funded it ourselves.”
“It was a huge error of judgement and a mistake we wholeheartedly take responsibility for and we have paid the full amount back. Gi and Tom x.”
Tom, 35, and Giovanna, 36, are parents to three kids – Buzz, 6, Buddy, 4 and Max, 2.
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