Reality TV star Ferne McCann has said she is “grateful” for the support she has received following news of her pregnancy as her ex-boyfriend is to appear in court charged in connection with an acid attack.

Confirming her pregnancy for the first time, a spokeswoman for the former The Only Way Is Essex star said: “Ferne is grateful for the sympathetic way news of her pregnancy has been covered and people’s support and obviously her first concern is for her child’s health.”

The statement added: “Accordingly she does not wish to discuss the pregnancy further given the early stage it is at and the immense strain that Ferne is currently under.

“Nor does she wish to discuss her ex-boyfriend who she does not recognise from the events of the last week.”

Ferne McCann
Ferne McCann (Ian West/PA)

“Ferne is in no way seeking sympathy for her situation and is determined to do all she can to have a happy and healthy child and face the challenges of being a single parent with all her energy.”

The statement ended with Ferne offering her thoughts to the “victims of the horrific attack on Easter Monday”.

Arthur Collins
Arthur Collins (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Arthur Collins was due to appear in court on Monday charged in connection with the incident at an east London nightclub which left two revellers partially blinded and others disfigured.

The 24-year-old was arrested at an address in Rushden, Northamptonshire, on Saturday.

He was charged on Sunday with 14 counts of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) and one count of throwing corrosive fluid on a person with intent to cause GBH, Scotland Yard said.

Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, will appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court.

The Only Way Is Essex's Ferne McCann
The Only Way Is Essex’s Ferne McCann (ITV Pictures)

A second man, Andre Phoenix, 21, will appear at the same court charged with seven counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Twenty clubbers were doused with a corrosive substance during a night out at the Mangle nightclub in Dalston on Easter Monday.

A 22-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were both blinded in one eye, while several other revellers suffered burns.

A 33-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were arrested and later released from custody.