Just months after coming under fire for allegedly making derogatory comments about Sam Faiers and acid attack survivor Sophie Hall, and reportedly with a baby on the way, Ferne McCann has decided it’s time to wipe the slate clean – although being forgiven by the public may not be as easy as she hopes.
The former TOWIE star recently marked her first anniversary with fiancé Lorri Haines, writing on Instagram, “Thank you for showing up through the good times and the really really really shitty times!”, and a source has now confirmed they’re “over the moon” to be expecting a sibling for five-year-old daughter Sunday.
And, according to heat’s source, Ferne, 32, is hoping that 2023 will be a new start in more ways than one as she attempts to move on from last year’s voice note scandal – which saw her accused of calling Sam a “fat c**t” and “narcissistic”, and Sophie “ugly” and a “silly bitch” .
In an Instagram statement shared in November, Ferne apologised to Sophie – one of the victims of her ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins’ acid attack – and said she does not “believe her to be ugly or stupid”, adding that legal proceedings were stopping her saying what she wanted.
She 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.”
And now we’re told, “Ferne has been doing a lot of self-reflection and soul searching, and she’s come to a point where she doesn’t want to punish herself any more. She knows what she did was bad with her voice notes, but ultimately, the public don’t know what has gone on behind closed doors. Family and close pals know that Ferne isn’t a nasty person deep down and shouldn’t be vilified – they think she’s right to try and move on.”
Ferne counted ex-TOWIE co-stars Sam, 32, and her older sister Billie, 33, as two of her closest friends prior to the leaked voice notes, but has been estranged from them ever since, with Sam unfollowing her on social media. While Ferne congratulated Billie on the birth of her third child Margot last month, she has reportedly received radio silence from the sisters after attempts to bury the hatchet.
And while Ferne is determined to focus on her career and growing family, we’re told that others believe she should still be grovelling.
“She’s come to terms with everything and has given up on constantly trying to apologise to Sam – she thinks there are people in their circle that have done and said worse,” heat’s source says.
“She wants to show the world that people can learn from mistakes and should be given another chance. She thinks the public are going to move on from it soon anyway, but there are plenty of people out there who think what she’s done is unforgivable.”