Former Love Island U.K. host Caroline Flack has been found dead in her London flat at age 40 after taking her own life. The shocking news comes just weeks before Flack was due to go on trial for assaulting her partner Lewis Burton.
Flack was a British television host, most well-known for her time as the host of ITV’s popular series Love Island which Flack hosted from its premiere in 2015 up until 2019. In December 2019 it was announced that Flack would not be returning to host Love Island’s 2020 winter season due to assault charges she was facing after a violent incident with her partner Lewis Burton that ended in Flack being arrested. Flack was set to appear in court on March 4, and some fans were still holding out hope that the host would potentially return to host the 2020 summer season depending on the results of her trials.
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On February 15, it was confirmed by Caroline Flack’s family (via ITV) that the television presenter had been found dead in her London home after taking her own life. In a brief statement released by her family, her loved ones requested “that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time and we would ask they make no attempt to contact us and/or photograph us.” Little information has been released at this point, but tributes have already started pouring in to honor Caroline, including from Flack’s longtime friend and well-known journalist in Britain, Dan Wootton. Wootton took to Twitter, writing in one tweet that Caroline was “one of the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met. She was kind to a fault. She cared like no one else,” while in another tweet he wrote that Flack “was a good woman. She should have been presenting Love Island. This is too much to cope with.” Many former Love Island contestants and those who had worked or interacted with Flack in years prior have also shared their sentiments on social media.
Flack’s death is not the first of someone who was connected to the Love Island franchise. Model Sophie Gradon was a contestant from the second season of the popular reality television show who took her own life in June 2018, and footballer Mike Thalassitis took his own life in March 2019 after participating in the third season of the show. Following Gradon and Thalassitis’ deaths, as well as complaints from fans and contestants about the mental well-being of contestants during and after the show, ITV and Love Island bosses reportedly now provide participants with access to trained mental health professionals while on the reality show, as well as after they leave the villa.
Despite the drama surrounding her recently, Flack was beloved by many and it’s not surprising that so many who knew her have taken to social media to share their sadness over her death. Flack had been a well-known face for the British public for years, from her time hosting Love Island to winning season 12 of Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, and her death will have an impact on a lot of people. The first-ever winter season of Love Island is currently underway in South Africa. Laura Whitmore has taken over as host after Flack stepped down, and viewers can likely expect some sort of acknowledgment of Flack’s death on the episode, which will air February 16.
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Source: ITV, Dan Wootton
