BILLIE Shepherd has broken her silence on her friendships after falling out with Ferne McCann over a voice note scandal.
The former The Only Way Is Essex star opened up about how fame impacted her relationships, but has never doubted her “true friends”.
2
2
Billie, 33, had a major fall out with her former best pal Ferne, 32, over the voice note scandal that hit the headlines last year.
Ferne was heard making nasty comments about Billie’s sister Sam in a series of messages leaked by a mystery Instagram account.
The voice recorded messages saw Ferne dub former pal Sam, 32, “overweight” and call her a “narcissistic b***h”.
Now, Billie has spoken about her friendships for the first time since the scandal, expressing gratitude for her close female pals.
She revealed how her friendship group consists of the “same group of girls she grew up with” – failing to mention her former co-star.
Billie told the MailOnline: “My friendship group is the same group of girls I grew up with from school, I’m really lucky we’re all still such close friends.
“I’ve never questioned any of my true friendships. If I’m honest I’ve never come across people that would use me, because I would never think like that.
“I know some people in the public eye maybe would think like that but it’s not in my nature.”
She went on to add that despite her reality fame, she wanted viewers to see her “normal”, having the “same struggles” as everyone else.
Read Related Also: Gigi Hadid makes rare comment on co-parenting daughter with ex Zayn Malik
Last month, Ferne was seen breaking down in tears as she opened up about the end of her friendship with mother-of-three Billie.
Opening up about the drama during the return of her reality show Ferne McCann: First Time Mum, Ferne said it had “ruined her life”.
Crying as she filmed herself, the former Towie star said: “I have lost my whole relationship with Billie – and that really hurts.
“She has been my best friend for so many years and I feel really lost. “You say things when you’re angry and hurt, you say things.”
Ferne also spoke directly about Sam and said the messages were recorded when they fell out five years ago.
She told viewers that she believes that someone has kept hold of them ever since and ‘edited them’ to ‘change the context’ as part of a vicious vendetta to ‘destroy her’.
“I wouldn’t say them now – I absolutely would not,” she cried.
“There is this person who has held on to them for five years and is using them and weaponising them against me.”
Ferne had been best friends with Billie, 33, since they were at school together. They then went on to star in Towie along with Sam.
Ferne was seen reiterating what she told Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby during a This Morning appearance last month.
She explained that the details behind the voice notes are now part of a “criminal investigation”, leaving her unable to fully explain herself.
“I massively regret it but all I can do is put my trust in the police and try and patch things up [with Billie and Sam],” Ferne added.
“The Instagram page has been taken down and it’s been left with the police now.”
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
