A victim of Ferne McCann's ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins' acid attack has responded to an expletive voice note – allegedly sent by Ferne – in which she was branded "ugly".
In 2017, Sophie Hall had acid thrown in her face in a London club by the TV star's then-boyfriend, Arthur Collins. The incident left Sophie, now 27, scarred for life.
Now Sophie, who was 21 at the time of the attack, has urged ITV, if it is Fern in the voice notes, to take serious action against her.
Ferne's reality show First Time Mum is said to have stopped production while the TV company probes the leaked messages.
Sophie admitted the words have left her feeling sick to her stomach after Ferne allegedly called her an "ugly f***ing c***".
Speaking to The Sun, Sophie said: "Why should anyone who has been so cruel be given the platform to tear others down?"
The alleged voice note was posted by an anonymous Instagram account, which claimed the note was by Ferne. The social media post claimed the voice notes were recorded a year after the 2017 attack, which happened while Sophie had been celebrating a friend's birthday. The acid attack incident left Sophie scarred for life on her face and arms.
A woman can be heard in the clip talking about Sophie entering a pageant while wearing a dress which was produced from headlines about the attack.
In the note, a woman said: "I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The silly b**** has made a dress, a papier-mâché dress out of the cuttings from the event.
"She will probably win it. I’m not going to lie. Only because the awards she entered are probably loving all this free press. So they will probably fix it, she will win. She is one ugly f***ing c***."
There is nothing to suggest the event or organisers fixed the competition and, in any event, Hall did not win the competition. She placed as a runner-up.
Sophie has now reacted to the voicenote as she added: "It has taken five years to rebuild my confidence after the attack. And now in just minutes all my hard work has been shattered by these malicious voice notes.
"ITV need to address what’s been said."
She continued to question how anyone could be "so cruel with their words" after saying they made her feel worthless and left her in a state of shock and disbelief.
Sophie first learned of the words from a pal who sent her the link to the post containing the voicenote. She said she was left speechless and hopes action is taken against the body shaming notes.
Telly insiders told the same publication the next series of Ferne's show is "up in the air".
"Conversations are ongoing about when the show may resume filming. ITV have held talks with Ferne about the situation and they will continue to speak with her to see where they go from here," they claimed.
Following the recent posted notes, friends of Ferne have reportedly claimed the messages have been "sliced together" in a bid to "destroy her".
Speaking to Mail Online, an unnamed source claimed: "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."
Ferne is yet to publicly address the voicenotes.
The Mirror has approached Ferne's representatives and ITV for comment.
