Ferne McCann APOLOGISES to acid attack victim Sophie Hall over leaked voice notes

Ferne McCann has apologised to acid attack victim Sophie Hall after calling her ‘ugly’ in leaked voice notes – but only ‘in the face of serious threats’.

In a statement shared to Instagram on Tuesday, the former TOWIE star, 32, admitted she was the voice in the shocking audio files, but also claimed she recorded them because she feared ‘serious harm and in the face of significant threats’.

She wrote in full: ‘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.

‘I feel I have no choice but to address these (to the extent that I can as there are restrictions on me which I explain below).

‘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. I am unable to say much because there are important and significant legal proceedings that prevent me from setting the record straight at this stage.

‘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.’

It comes after her fiancé Lorri Haines shared a series of cryptic posts with his 170k followers, amid the ongoing conflict surrounding his partner.

The businessman shared a quote about ‘struggle’ to his Instagram Stories, which followed on from another about ‘being patient for happiness’.

His posts come following claims that Ferne made derogatory comments about ex-partner Arthur‘s acid attack victims in a series of leaked voice notes, claiming to be of her voice.

And these audio clips aren’t the first to circulate the internet, with the reality star previously accused of slamming and body shaming friend Sam Faiers.

Lorri posted to instagram with a series of Stories, which were made up of graphic designed quotes.

The first read: ‘Happiness takes belief, time and effort. Stay patient while it all works out.’

‘I’m thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength,’ said the second.

And posting one more the next morning, his final piece of wisdom was: ‘Every day is a chance to change your life.’

Taking a break from the cryptic posts, it seemed to be a dreamy Saturday morning for the pair – as Lorri shared a video of a plate of stacked pancakes, writing that it was ‘breakfast in bed’.

The Dubai-based businessman, who has been in a relationship with Ferne since 2021, has been quietly supporting Ferne during the scandal.

Following the first bout of audio messages that claimed to be the voice of Ferne branding pal Sam a ‘fat c*** with big thighs’, she and Lorri headed off on holiday to take a break from the turmoil.

But now the star has allegedly made comments about ex Arthur’s acid victims, it appears things are still on a downward spiral for the pair. 

In a statement shared with MailOnline yesterday, Ferne called the scandal a ‘harassment’ campaign against her, as well as offering her sympathies to those offended by the remarks. 

The mother-of-one was forced to speak out after an anonymous Instagram account leaked voice notes allegedly sent by Ferne, in which a woman’s voice labels one of Arthur’s victims a ‘silly b****’.

It’s been claimed they were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England final 15 months after the sickening attack, baring her scars. 

The account responsible for sharing the audio previously stated more voice notes, allegedly from Ferne, would be sent over the next 24 hours. 

Breaking her silence on the scandal, a statement released by Ferne’s representatives read: ‘These voice messages are part of a wider harassment campaign designed to intimidate and discredit Ferne. 

‘They are subject to an on-going investigation being carried out by Essex Police and, as such, Ferne is unable to comment other than to say she offers her deepest sympathies for the distress and hurt this situation is causing Ms. Hall.’

A source close to the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star previously told MailOnline the messages have been ‘spliced together’ from separate recordings in a bid to ‘destroy her’.

Sophie, 27, who was badly scarred when Ferne’s then-boyfriend Arthur threw acid into a London club in 2017, has urged ITV to ‘take action’ and hold her accountable.

Sophie, whom Ferne allegedly referred to as ‘a silly b***h’ told The Sun she had spent five years rebuilding her confidence and ‘now in just minutes all my hard work has been shattered by these malicious voice notes.’

The acid attack victim slammed the First Time Mum star for being ‘cruel and vicious’ and has questioned why she should still be ‘given the platform to tear down others.’

‘ITV need to address what’s been said by Ferne. She needs to be held ac­countable and so do they,’ Ms Hall told The Sun. ‘ITV don’t just need to take action for my sake, but for other leaked voice notes. The ones which were body shaming and so unkind.’

Amid the scandal, filming for Ferne’s reality series has been paused. 

Ferne McCann: First Time Mum started in 2017 and followed the star as she prepared to welcome her first child following her split from Arthur. The series has since charted her life as a single mother to daughter Sunday, five. 

A source told MailOnline: ‘ITV are not currently filming Ferne’s series but are in contact with her and continue to offer support.’

An insider told The Sun that ITV are now waiting to see ‘how it plays out’, adding: ‘ITV were due to start filming the next series of her show First Time Mum in the coming weeks but now it’s all up in the air.

‘Conversations are ongoing about when the show may resume filming in light of all that has gone on.

‘ITV have held talks with Ferne about the situation and they will continue to speak with her to see where they go from here.’

On Thursday, friends of the reality star rallied around her to slam ‘sick’ claims she made the ‘disgusting’ comments 

The source explained: ‘Ferne is devastated by the content of these voice messages. This is part of an ongoing hate campaign against her.

‘The latest message has been spliced together from different WhatsApp recordings.

‘The messages are about four and five years old and out of context. The person releasing the private voice recordings is trying to destroy her.

‘The fact they kept the private voice messages for so long and are now releasing them shows what sort of sick person they are. It isn’t just hurting Ferne, it’s hurting the people being talked about. Ferne’s very aware of that as well.’

The source continued: ‘The truth is that Ferne has huge sympathy with Arthur’s victims and what they’ve been through. She admires their courage.

‘The police are continuing their investigation into who is leaking and editing the messages.

‘Ferne is set to be interviewed again to help to try and catch the perpetrator.

‘Her legal team has advised her she can’t speak out at the moment while investigations are ongoing.’

Collins is currently serving 20 years in prison after he threw acid in an East London nightclub in April 2017 and injured 14 people.

The former scaffolder – the father of Ferne’s daughter Sunday, five – was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and nine counts of actual bodily harm against 14 people, including model Sophie.

The voicemail message posted by the anonymous account, claiming to be sent by Ferne, discussed Sophie entering the 2018 beauty pageant.

A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the silly b***h has made a dress… A papier mache dress out of the newspaper cuttings from the event.’

In another post, the woman says: ‘She’ll probably win it I’m not gonna lie, only because the event and the awards that she has 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.’

The Instagram account had previously been suspended after Ferne reported it to the police when it released posts allegedly from the reality star in which she branded her former TOWIE pal Sam Faiers, 31, a ‘fat c***’ and ‘narcissistic b**ch’.

Sam and Ferne, who starred alongside one another on The Only Way Is Essex, have been friends for over 20 years.