PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Ferne McCann looks decidedly downcast – amid Sam Faiers leaked voice note scandal

Ferne McCann looked glum while wearing a sports bra and leggings as she left the gym in Essex.

After pushing herself through a grueling workout, the star, 32, appeared to be feeling fatigued as she headed to her car.

Ferne chose to wear a navy blue crop top with a silver pair of form-fitting leggings for her workout session.

The fresh-faced former I’m A Celeb camp mate wrapped a hoodie around her waist as she sauntered past in trainers with high-rise ribbed socks.

To complete her gym style, Ferne wore a green pendant with chain and tied her dark brown locks with a red scrunchie, while carrying a huge water bottle.

Ferne’s gym trip comes after she returned from what she described as a ‘much-needed’ getaway to Marbella with her daughter Sunday, her fiancé Lorri Haines and his young son.

The mixed family holiday came after Ferne reportedly branded her former TOWIE co-star Sam Faiers, 31, a “fat c***” and “narcissistic b**ch” in leaked voice notes.

Former TOWIE star Ferne broke her silence after the shocking vocal scandal fresh off completing Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, revealing on Instagram that she had “encountered difficulties in her life” during the experience.

The reality star wrote: ‘What a journey. Joining @sas_whodareswins was one of the most humiliating and hardest things I’ve ever done.

“I can honestly say it has changed my life. The whole experience makes you look at every part of yourself – your strengths, your weaknesses, your deepest fears.

‘It taught me resilience, self-acceptance and that every moment is an opportunity for change. It has given me the confidence to finally face the difficulties in my life, deal with them and move on.”

She added: “Moments will get to you, you’ll screw up, but you have to find that resilience and grit to pick yourself up and go again.

“Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, life will always throw up something else, and as the DS says, it’s how you handle it that matters,” she added in part of her lengthy post.

Ferne made headlines last month after the audio footage of her shadow Sam was posted from an Instagram account.

Sam and Ferne, who co-starred in The Only Way Is Essex, were friends for over 20 years before the drama.

Ferne is reportedly devastated by the leaked notes and “can’t stop crying” as she has received comments online from fans after the audio appeared to show she was calling Sam a “fat bastard.”

‘Her thighs are so big and I looked really skinny today,’ the post continued – cutting to other clips that allegedly describe Sam, Ferne said: ‘The kind of girl she is, she’s just a narcissistic bitch, she won honestly doesn’t matter.’

The voice messages are said to have been sent by Ferne to a friend on WhatsApp in June, just a month after Sam gave birth to her third baby, Edward.

But sharing that Ferne “don’t know what to do,” a source explained: “She’s in a living nightmare and wants this to stop. People don’t know all the facts. All eyes are on what might appear next on this Instagram account.”

“If those voice memos were made by Ferne, that’s incredibly damaging. She is currently seen as a little poisonous. No one can believe she would say such things.’

Sam unfollowed Ferne on Instagram during the drama, with her sister Billie reportedly calling her former co-star to find out about the situation.

According to The sunFerne contacted Essex police last month to see if they could locate the anonymous person behind an Instagram account who shared the shocking voice notes.

A source at the time said: ‘Ferne was visited by police on Thursday evening after her life was turned upside down by a fake account that launched a malicious smear campaign against her.

“Agents spent a few hours with her and assured that they are prioritizing this case and following the responsible parties.

“After taking statements, the police are currently tracing the whereabouts of the fake account. The Online Safety Bill was discussed as they curb cybercrime.”

The voice messages also reportedly show Ferne lashing out at Sam’s sister Billie, saying it was “weird” that Billie decided to name her son Arthur – the name of Ferne’s ex Arthur Collins, with whom she shares a daughter on Sunday.

Arthur, 29, is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being found guilty of carrying out a brutal acid attack in 2017. Ferne was raised as a single parent on Sunday.

The voice message says, “It feels so weird to say ‘Arthur’ I can’t believe it, it’s like having a little boy and calling him Greg anyway, whatever.”