PinkPantheress has revealed she has been banned from Sainsbury’s for life.
The British popstar - real name Victoria Beverly Walker - made the surprising confession about the supermarket chain while promoting her new single, Illegal.
The 24-year-old, who rose to fame on TikTok, revealed she didn’t steal anything herself but her friend was caught swiping a chicken drumstick.
“My friend stole a Drumstick from Sainsbury’s, but that actually is illegal,” the Boy’s A Liar singer told GQ.
"But I remember thinking to myself like – and we got banned – and we really went through it. I got banned, but I didn’t steal anything.
"I remember thinking like given our age at the time, one Drumstick resulting in a ban, it’s a bit much. Because we were banned from all Sainsbury’s across the country.”
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said they were unable to verify whether the ban remains in place - or whether the incident took place.
PinkPatheress’ revelation comes after she wowed the crowds at Glastonbury music festival in Somerset last month, performing hits like her viral track, Break It Off.
She pulled out of playing an intimate 30-minute set at on the Levels stage the day before the festival officially started.
The TikTok star was replaced by electronic artist Roza Terenzi, sandwiched between sets from Confidence Man and Marie Davidson.
A spokesman for Glastonbury said at the time: "This change was absolutely not as a result of overcrowding fears, the artist was simply no longer able to make this performance. But she is still playing her Woodsies set."
PinkPantheress has established herself as one of the UK’s most distinctive pop voices, earning three Brit Award nominations and charting in both the singles and albums top 10.
In December 2020, she began uploading clips of her music to TikTok and, 10 months later, the social media platform named her song Just For Me its breakout track of the summer.
Last year she cancelled all her 2024 tour dates, including opening slots on Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts tour and Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres world tour, to focus on her “physical health and overall wellbeing”.
“It is with the heaviest heart that I sadly have to announce that I will not be able to continue with the rest of my live shows this year in order to focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
“It appears I have reached a wall which I am struggling to penetrate through.”
She thanked Rodrigo for “giving me the platform to perform some super fun shows”, having opened for the second North American leg since July 19.
“I’m sad to disappoint anyone and can only hope we will be in each other’s company once I return to health,” she concluded.
