THE Apprentice star Amy Anzel has come under fire for a homophobic tweet she sent while partying in Manchester.
Just days after being branded a "gay icon" by the LGBTQ+ community, Amy who is starring in the current season of The Apprentice, has had that status quickly revoked over her offensive tweet.
The beauty mogul, 48, was in Manchester attending the city's Pride events and hit the town on the gay-favourite Canal Street.
Amy had asked fans on Saturday for help on the best spots on the famous strip, posting on Twitter: "The queen of the gays and crabs is heading to Canal Street in Manchester! Where’s good to go out?"
Fans then posted pics with Amy out on the town, but it all went downhill when she got a bit too familiar with the community.
"OMG getting mobbed by h***s," she tweeted alongside a crying, laughing face emoji and rainbow Pride flag.
But the backlash was swift and the self-confessed "LGTBQ+ Ally" came under fire, with many labelling the tweet as homophobic.
"I’m sure you’re lovely but this comes across really patronising; I have to ask what beyond a meme what have you done for the LGBTQ+ community? Please use this as an opportunity; allyship can be wonderful, and while perhaps not your intention this is all coming across performative," replied one angry fan on Twitter.
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Another added: "I know you don’t intend any malice but please stop using / treating us like a ‘token’ community. It’s not your place nor your privilege to use slurs like that. I know your intentions come from a good place but please do better x."
And a third wrote: "No, Amy Anzel is a straight cisgender woman quite blatantly using the community to her own advantage while saying literal homophobic slurs."
The Apprentice star quickly deleted the tweet following the criticism and then apologised for her comments.
Amy tweeted a few hours after her original tweet: "I just want to apologise to the people I’ve upset with a tweet I posted last night. As soon as it was pointed out, I took it down. It was taken from a conversation – and I was repeating what my friends were saying. I really meant no malice by it at all, it was meant with love."
The star gained cult-like status from the LGBTQ+ community for her appearance on the BBC reality show.
Originally from New York, Amy is a beauty brand owner and QVC UK presenter.
Amy also appeared on the Channel 4 documentary TV series The Sound Of The Musicals and produced the UK tour of Happy Days where she also came underfire for alleged homophobic comments.
During auditions she told dancer Steven Hardcastle to "strip away the gay" and after an awkward silence, followed it up with "you are gay, right?… I love my gays!"
Those comments were met with anger, including from TV star John Barrowman, but Amy insisted it was taken out of context.
"Unfortunately this comment was taken completely out of context. In reality, I was giving a dancer creative direction during an audition for a show that I was producing," she told the Daily Mail.
"To suggest that I’m even slightly homophobic is completely untrue. I’m a huge supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, always have been and always will be."
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