Britain’s ‘welfare queen’ reveals one regret after taking £500,000 in benefits

Marie Buchan has received more than £500,000 in benefits (Picture: BPM)

An unemployed mum of eight has bragged about the estimated £500,000 she’s pocketed while on benefits.

Marie Buchan, 42, has managed to get a boob job, a ‘designer vagina’ and a horse, despite spending her adult life living exclusively on benefits.

She’s been dubbed Britain’s ‘welfare queen’, and the former lap dancer has faced outrage for her laissez-faire approach to money.

In 2018, she got a £1,500 boob job in Turkey – and told The Sun that being on benefits has ‘never held her back’.

But she does have one regret.

Marie, who said she ‘didn’t have a lot’ growing up, first went on benefits when she had her first baby at the age of 19.

She stayed on them to ‘dedicate herself’ to raising her children, saying there was little incentive to work as they’re ‘better off’ on benefits.

Marie has undergone a boob job, ‘designer vagina’ and lash extensions (Picture: BPM)

She had a horse at one point, but gave him up (Picture: BPM)

Marie, from Birmingham, said: ‘I have had a lot of luxuries. I paid £600 upfront for the horse and then had to pay an additional £100 a month to keep him at the yard. Food was around £25 a month.

‘It was a big mistake. I was rubbing it in people’s faces and I was showing off and I really regret that.

‘He’s now gone because I couldn’t afford to keep him. Maybe if I go back to work I could buy another one.’

She said she paid for her plastic surgeries with money from car boot sales, and added she understands why people were outraged.

‘It’s very easy to sit in the system for the rest of your life,’ she said.

She’s received a lot of backlash for her view on benefits use, with people online calling her a ‘parasite, s***’ and wishing death on her.

‘It can be hell at times. I don’t know what people get out of being so horrible but they must just get sick kicks,’ she said.

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‘It is very hard at times to read that stuff and horrible for the children as well. When you are feeling low it can really make you sink even lower.’

In 2020, she took a holiday to Spain after ‘needing a break’ from looking after her children during Covid.

Marie claimed benefits that year totalling around £500 each week, helping her run a household for her children aged between six and 16.

She has previously said sexism has held her back from pursuing a career as a mechanic after gaining a Level 2 diploma in the trade.

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