Billie Shepherd says she's 'lucky' to have close girl pals amid fallout with ... trends now
Billie Shepherd has expressed her gratefulness for her close girl pals, in the aftermath of her fallout with former best friend Ferne McCann.
The former TOWIE star, 33, spoke exclusively to MailOnline about how her fame had impacted her relationships, explaining that she's never doubted the intentions of her 'true friends'.
She said: '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.'
Former friends: Billie Shepherd has expressed her gratefulness for her close girl pals, in the aftermath of her fallout with former best friend Ferne McCann
Grateful: The former TOWIE star, 33, spoke exclusively to MailOnline about how her fame had impacted her relationships, explaining that she's never doubted the intentions of her 'true friends'
She went on: 'Obviously I've been filming in reality TV for such a long time but because of the nature of the show, people relate to us because we're a normal family, we're like everyone else going through the same struggles, it's a rollercoaster. So it doesn't faze you.'
Her comments come after the end of her long-standing friendship with Ferne, which also dates back to their school days, after voice notes were leaked of Ferne making cruel comments about Billie's sister Sam.
In the series premiere of her show ITVBe's First Time Mum, Ferne, 32, confessed she recorded the 'hurtful' messages because she was envious of Sam at the time.
On the show, Ferne claimed to know who was behind the leak, which saw an anonymous Instagram account, called Lady Whistledown after the Bridgerton gossip sharer, post a series of voice messages from a woman they claimed was Ferne last year.
One heard a woman's voice label one of acid attacker Arthur Collins ' victims a 'silly b****' while another saw Ferne accused of body-shaming Sam.
She said during the episode: 'I'm so ashamed and embarrassed and I know the words are very hurtful. It was from a time when I was really hurting, and in a very vulnerable and bad place,' she explained while sat reflecting in her car.
'They were from about five years ago when me and Sam had a fall out. It's very hard for me to talk about this because I don't want to bring up the past. Would I say those things now? Absolutely
