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Shooting for Ferne McCann’s ITVBe series has been paused after claims she made derogatory comments about the victims of ex-partner Arthur Collins’ acid attack.
Ferne McCann: First Time Mum began in 2017 and followed the star as she prepared to welcome her first child after her divorce from Arthur. The series has since charted her life as a single mom on Sunday 5.
Now, as friends of the star say there is an ‘ongoing hate campaign’ against her, ITV is said to be in talks over whether the show should go on.
Shock: Shooting for Ferne McCann’s ITVBe series has been paused after claims she made derogatory comments about the victims of ex-partner Arthur Collins’ acid attack (pictured today)
An anonymous Instagram account Wednesday leaked voice memos allegedly sent by Ferne, 32, in which a woman’s voice calls one of Arthur’s victims a “stupid b****.”
It is alleged that they were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England final 15 months after the nauseating attack and bare her scars.
The account later released another message, saying that more voice memos would be sent in the next 24 hours, reportedly from Ferne.
A source told MailOnline: “ITV is not currently filming Ferne’s series but is in contact with her and continues to provide support.”
One to watch: Ferne McCann: First Time Mum began in 2017 and the series charted her life as a single mother on daughter Sunday (pictured in the show)
An insider told The sun that ITV is now waiting to see ‘how it ends’, adding: ‘ITV was due to start filming the next series of its show First Time Mum in the coming weeks, but now it’s all in the air.
Talks are underway about when shooting may resume in light of everything that has happened.
“ITV has had discussions with Ferne about the situation and they will continue to talk to her to see where they are coming from.”
MailOnline has reached out to representatives for Ferne and ITV for comment.
Drama: Ferne is set to brace herself as three new voice notes, reportedly from her, will be released (pictured last month)
It comes after a source close to the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star told MailOnline that the messages were “split together” from separate recordings in an attempt to “destroy her.”
The source explains: ‘Ferne is devastated by the content of these voice messages. This is part of an ongoing hate campaign against her.
The last message was split together from several WhatsApp recordings.
‘The messages are about four and five years old and out of context. The person who releases the private voice recordings is trying to destroy her.
“The fact that they have kept the private voice messages for so long and are now releasing them shows what kind of sick they are. It doesn’t just hurt Ferne, it hurts the people being talked about. Ferne knows that very well.’
Convicted: Arthur Collins is currently serving 20 years in prison after he threw acid at an east London nightclub in April 2017, injuring 14 people
The source continued: ‘The truth is that Ferne has tremendous sympathy for Arthur’s victims and what they have been through. She admires their courage.
“The police are continuing to investigate who is leaking the messages and are editing the messages.
“Ferne is being questioned again to help catch the killer.
“Her legal team has informed her that she is currently unable to speak out while the investigation is ongoing.”
Ex: Ferne was accused of making ‘disgusting’ comments about one of the victims of an acid attack from ex-boyfriend Arthur in newly leaked voice memos (pictured in 2017)
Collins is currently serving 20 years in prison after he threw acid at an east London nightclub in April 2017, injuring 14 people.
The former scaffolder — the father of Ferne’s daughter Sunday, age 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 from the anonymous account, which claimed to have been sent by Ferne, talked about Sophie competing in the 2018 beauty pageant.
Smet: It is alleged that they were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England final 15 months after the nauseating attack and bare her scars
Oh dear: A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the stupid b***h made a dress… A papier-mâché dress from the press clippings of the event’
A woman’s voice can be heard saying, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the stupid bitch has made a dress… A papier-mâché dress from the press clippings of the event.”
In another post, the woman says, “She will probably win it, I’m not going to lie just because of the event and the prizes she participated in or the beauty pageant, whatever it is.”
“They probably love all this free press for their event, so they’ll probably fix it, she’ll win it.”
The Instagram account was previously suspended after Ferne reported it to police when it reportedly released messages from the reality star calling her former TOWIE boyfriend Sam Faiers, 31, a “fat c***” and “narcissistic b** called. ch’.
Sam and Ferne, who co-starred in The Only Way Is Essex, have been friends for over 20 years.
Breakout: Ferne is embroiled in an ongoing feud with Sam Faiers, 31, after audio leaked in which Ferne allegedly called her boyfriend a ‘fat c***’ (pictured together in 2019)