Ferne McCann has allegedly been keeping a distance from pals amid the leaked voice note allegations.
Worried sources close to the 32-year-old claim the former TOWIE star is keeping her circle small - with her mum and and fiancé Lorri Haines making the cut - as she navigates life amid the backlash from alleged leaked voice notes in which a voice seemingly made negative comments about Sam Faiers, writes The Mirror.
The mum-of-one who was recently spotted for the first time since the scandal broke - is said to be 'devastated by the whole thing' and is 'keeping her head down' following an anonymous Instagram account leaking the voice notes allegedly sent by her last month.
The source comments come as the anonymous account returns to Instagram under a new Bridgerton-inspired moniker, after previously sharing the original alleged voice notes under the handle @lucymay195 with their 31,000 followers before deactivating their account.
Ferne is yet to publicly comment on the leaked voice notes, but following the social media posts from the anonymous account the star reportedly got in contact with the police. An Essex Police spokesperson told the Mirror last week: "We are investigating a report of malicious communication which was made to us in Brentwood on Thursday 29 September.
"We have spoken to the victim, a woman aged in her 30s, and our enquiries are ongoing. "Ferne is still devastated by the whole thing," a source claiming to be close to Ferne has told OK! magazine. "It’s awful. Friends are worried about her and haven’t heard from her.
"She’s keeping her head down and those close to her are rallying around her and supporting her." Ferne and Sam's friendship was put under the spotlight when it was claimed mum-of-one Ferne had made negative comments about her childhood friend's weight and labelled her former co-star a 'narcissistic b***h', thanks to a viral social media post featuring alleged voice notes sent by Ferne.
In one of the reported 39 audio clips the account claimed to have possession of , the voice called Sam a 'fat c***' in a message sent a month after Sam welcomed her third child. Another voice note appears to allegedly show Ferne taking a swipe at Billie Faiers over her son being given the same name as Ferne's jailed ex Arthur Collins.
Many fans of the reality TV star have defended her on social media and claimed the alleged comments could have possibly been taken out of context. Pictured publicly earlier this month for the first time since the alleged voice notes were leaked, Ferne stepped out of a property makeup-free as she went to get into her car.
She had her brown locks tied back away from her face in a high bun and wore a pair of glasses over her eyes as she made her way into the driver's seat of her black Porsche following the scandal.
Sam and her sister Billie Shepherd's mum took to social media last month [September 28] to seemingly slam her kid's former friend and defend her daughters, as the alleged voice notes gained traction on Instagram and went viral.
Suzie Wells, 53, said within a lengthy statement shared to her Instagram Stories: "Ferne has always been a very close family friend to all of us for over the past 20 years. It appears this voice note was sent just weeks after Samantha gave birth back in May.
"Since this voice note has surfaced more have been sent - very upsetting nasty things. We are as shocked as you are! Nobody should ever speak about their friends like this ever!" In her Instagram update, Suzi also included a post from @ladywhistledown195 - then posting as @lucymay195 - in which one of the alleged 'leaked' voice notes could be heard.
Sam and Ferne's friendship goes back years, with the two women becoming mates way before they both became household names thanks to TOWIE, but after a few years in the limelight together the stars clashed over their respective post-TOWIE projects.
The two former TOWIE stars went on to put their differences aside for Sam's sister Billie's hen do and seemingly repaired their friendship - with Ferne even appearing on Sam and Billie's podcast in May this year.
But following the alleged voice notes being shared on Instagram, Sam has unfollowed Ferne on the social media platform and it appears their friendship is over once again.
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