Reality TV star Ferne McCann was allegedly heard calling acid attack victim Sophie Hall "ugly" and "stupid" in leaked voice messages. The audio messages were anonymously released on Instagram in November 2022.
Shortly after the audio came out Ferne apologised to Sophie, who was one of the victims of Ferne’s ex Arthur Collins ’ April 2017 acid attack in an East London nightclub. Ferne, 32, claimed the voice messages leaked online were “manipulated and edited”.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning on Wednesday, Ferne broke down in tears. She said: "It definitely wasn’t my finest hour and it definitely was a very difficult time in my life when those voice notes were leaked. But I need to take this opportunity to publicly apologise again to those affected."
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The Only Way is Essex and First Time Mum star has repeatedly said that legal proceedings are preventing her from "setting the record straight" on that period of her life. She said: "It's very difficult because I would love to sit here with you guys and with my followers and share exactly what went on, but it is now part of a criminal investigation so I can't do that."
What was in Ferne McCann's voice notes?The voice notes, allegedly containing Ferne McCann’s voice, insult acid attack victim Sophie Hall. The voice can be heard saying: “She is one ugly f****** ****.”
The voice note says: “The silly b**** has made a dress, a paper mache dress, out of the newspaper cuttings from the event. She'll probably win it, i'm not going to lie. Only because the event and the awards that she's entered or beauty competition whatever it is, they're probably loving all this free press for their event.
"So they'll probably fix it, she'll win it.
In another audio message, released a week earlier, Ferne is allegedly heard calling her former best friend Sam Faiers a “narcissistic b****". The voice says: “That's the sort of girl that she is. She's just a narcissistic b****. She honestly won't care.
The voice notes also made reference to Billie Faiers son’s name, Arthur. One voice note said: "It’s weird saying Arthur, it’s like me having a little boy and calling him Greg." Billie’s husband is called Greg Shepherd.
Who leaked Ferne McCann's voice notes?The voice notes were released anonymously in November 2022. They were posted by an Instagram account called Lady Whistledown - after the Netflix Bridgerton character who shares town gossip.
What has Ferne McCann said about the leaked voice recordings?In a statement released on Instagram in November 2022, Ferne wrote: "I am aware that people will have a number of questions about the voice messages being put into the public domain and purportedly sent by me.
"Most importantly I want to apologise to all the victims of Arthur Collins abhorrent actions in 2017 that they have to relive that night and the pain that followed because this matter is again in the public domain. In particular I want to apologise to Sophie Hall.
"I do not believe her to be ugly or stupid. She has been brave beyond belief. Arthur Collins’ crimes created genuine victims so I am not trying to portray myself as one."
Ferne’s statement added: "What I can say is that the voice messages that are being released are manipulated; edited and taken entirely out of context.
"Even so, I will have said things that are untrue and I did not believe – but I did so to protect my family and myself from serious harm and in the face of significant threats.”
Who is Ferne's ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins?Ferne shares her five-year-old daughter Sunday with ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins. He was given a 20-year jail sentence in December 2017 for carrying out an acid attack in the packed Mangle nightclub in East London.
Sixteen people suffered chemical burn injuries. Three people were temporarily blinded in the attack.
In January 2023 Ferne announced her engagement to property developer Lorri Haines. She recently shared how she nearly split with fiance Lorri over the voice note scandal, during her ITV docuseries First Time Mum.
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