Daily Mail Australia has fired a reporter who accidentally uploaded her own “musings” about reality television contestants being “vapid cunts” on to the news website on Sunday, where it sat for several hours before editors intervened.

A spokesman for the UK-based masthead said the reporter was responsible for the uploading of inappropriate words about reality TV contestants.

“After an internal investigation, Daily Mail Australia has now terminated the employment of the journalist responsible for the offending words,” the spokesman told Guardian Australia on Monday night.

Sources at the Daily Mail earlier said the young reporter was “mortified” by the mistake.

The Daily Mail reporter was writing in a Google document because of problems with the content management system and she inadvertently cut and pasted a paragraph about Bachelor in Paradise contestant Florence Alexandra which she says was written for her own eyes only, Guardian Australia understands.

“Florence initially rose to fame on Matty J’s season of The Bachelor, before unsuccessfully trying her luck at love again in Paradise,” the Daily Mail reporter wrote in the published article.

“But most people who were educated at a high-school level know these vapid cunts only go on the shows to find mediocre Instagram fame and make a living promoting teeth whiteners and unnecessary cosmetic procedures.”

The article, about Alexandra posting on Instagram about a cure for her eye bags, was headlined: “Not a single person has told me I look tired!’ Bachelor In Paradise star Florence Alexandra reveals the VERY unusual cosmetic treatment she uses to combat eye bags.”

The Daily Mail finally amended the article after being alerted to it via Twitter, but not before some on social media had praised the sentiment expressed by the reporter.

Refreshing honesty from the Daily Mail this morning https://t.co/izxC2xpveE pic.twitter.com/OI1ZNEewHR — Emily Baker (@emlybkr) April 15, 2018

The reporter, who has been working on the Australian arm of the Daily Mail for a year, described her job as one in which she was “responsible for breaking exclusive global news stories in a 24/7 newsroom”.

Daily Mail reporters are expected to produce copy faster than is usual in other newsrooms.

The reporter had filed no fewer than five stories on Sunday and four on Monday, which is a normal workload for a Daily Mail journalist. It is customary for Mail reporters to upload their own copy into the system unless the story is legally contentious.

The reporter had deleted her Twitter bio photograph and locked her account on Monday. She did not respond to messages from Guardian Australia.

A spokesman for the Daily Mail apologised for the error.

“Daily Mail Australia would like to apologise for inappropriate language that appeared on an article published by this site on Sunday morning,” he said.

“The story about Bachelor in Paradise star Florence Alexandra contained offensive wording that should not have been included. As soon as we became aware of the mistake, the wording was removed. The Daily Mail Australia apologises for any offence taken by either our readers or contestants of the show.”

Alexandra said she was talking to her lawyers about taking legal action over the offensive language.

“That’s not a word I would ever use, even for someone I don’t like,” she said. “I’m not shallow, or materialistic, which is what the journalist is suggesting.”