Ferne McCann has revealed the voice note scandal she has been embroiled in put a huge strain on her relationship with fiancé Lorri Haines in a new series of ITV's First Time Mum.
In the first episode that aired on Wednesday night, Ferne and Lorri spoke about how the ordeal has impacted their relationship.
Both admitted the strain the scandal caused led to them almost splitting up with Lorri addressing the "smear campaign" against him.
He revealed how hard he found accusations that he was only interested in Ferne for financial gain and admitted he would often leave his fiancée to "cry in a different room" as he wanted to be strong for her.
Lorri explained that when Ferne would ask him about the voice note scandal he would "lie" to his fiancée by telling her everything was going to be okay when in reality he had serious doubts.
He told Ferne the ordeal has "put a strain on our relationship" and he struggled at times with how she ended up in the situation that she had.
"I was p****d off that you had been manipulated by this person," Lorri said.
He added that he wished he could have been with Ferne at the time the voice notes were recorded five years ago as he suggested the person behind them was trying to trap the reality star.
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"I wish you asked yourself, 'Why would she keep asking me the same question five times?'" Lorri quipped.
In July 2022, Ferne and Lorri announced their engagement before confirming earlier this year that they are expecting their first child together.
Earlier in the programme, Ferne addressed the voice notes and said: "When I listen back to the voice notes about [Sam Faiers], I am literally so ashamed and embarrassed and I know the words are really hurtful and it was a time when I was really hurting."
"Just to explain, they were from five years ago when me and Sam had a fall out. It's really hard for me to talk about."
Ferne "remembers instantly" who she sent the voice notes to but they had been edited to remove context in order to "destroy [Ferne] and inflict as much damage as possible".
"There's only one person I know who would want to inflict this much pain and damage - they destroyed me," she added.
Ferne McCann: First Time Mum continues on ITVBe on Wednesday at 9pm.
