‘Body training specialist’ Ashy Bines has been found to have stolen at least 10 of the clean eating recipes found in her online products from other food blogs and websites.
The 26-year-old Gold Coast native rose to online fame following the release of her popular 12 week body challenge program and diet plans.
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However it has now come to light that the program may not be as original as first thought.
Ashy has today been forced to respond to ‘online theft’ allegations after a YouTube poster put together a video claiming that many of the ‘original’ recipes on Ashy’s site bore strong similarities to those found on another health and fitness blog.
Ashy fell short of apologising to her million plus social media followers and instead claims that she chose to outsource the recipe finding tasks to a qualified nutritionist in order to provide her fans with expert advice.
"It's recently come to my attention that some of these recipes were not original at all and have been copied from other sources. This was never my intention and it really sucks that these things can happen. Unfortunately I may have been too naive to think that I wouldn't have to check the origins of each recipe, instead trusting that the work would be completed in an honest and professional manner," Ashy says in a video response to the scandal.
Check out some of the fitness inspo from some other social media health gurus. Article continues after gallery.
A peek inside their Instagram accounts
Some professionals have even branded the program as being risky and potentially dangerous with recommendations on calorie intake for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers far below those advised by professionals.
Starting the program in 2011 with partner Steven Evans, Ashy designed a high protein, low carb and low fat diet plan combined with a considerable amount of exercise. What began with a few hundred participants quickly swelled to thousands, however many have been left feeling unsatisfied by claims of dodgy business practices, questionable qualifications and rude customer service.
Ashy says she has had to develop a thick skin to deal with the nasty comments she receives daily on her various social media accounts. However, the trolls have come out in force since news broke of the latest scandal.
Currently 15 weeks pregnant with her first child, Ashy says that her unborn baby has been the target of vicious remarks with one user commenting, “I hope it gets down syndrome you dirty liar”,and “you are a b*tch, I pray a truck runs you over”.
Have you tried the Ashy Bines 12 week body challenge?
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