As festive family selfies go, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Lottie Tomlinson, a beautiful young mother and influencer, along with her fiance Lewis Burton and their adorable son Lucky, took to Instagram to extend New Year’s wishes to their numerous followers.
‘Our last one as 3,’ writes Lewis, referring to the impending arrival of their second child, a baby girl, who is due within weeks.
The post, which was shared by both Lewis and Lottie, prompted thousands of comments from well-wishers showering them with compliments.
However, one individual notably absent from the well-wishing was Christine Flack, the mother of the late television presenter Caroline Flack, who tragically passed away by suicide nearly five years ago.
Caroline, a beloved figure at 40, had been involved in a tumultuous relationship with Lewis, a model and former professional tennis player who was 13 years her junior.
It was this relationship, Caroline’s mother openly declared on social media, that ‘ended her life’.
Indeed, it was a late-night explosive row between the two in 2019, after Caroline was said to have found text messages from another woman on his phone, that led to her hitting him with a lamp, being charged with assault – and ultimately resulted in her downward mental spiral and suicide on February 15, 2020.
Caroline Flack was in a turbulent relationship with Lewis Burton – a model and former professional tennis player – who was 13 years her junior
It was this relationship, Caroline’s mother Christine openly declared on social media, that ‘ended her life’
It’s understandable, therefore, that Christine found Lewis’s new romance so difficult to take: the pair went public six months after Caroline died when they were spotted on holiday in Ibiza.
It’s also understandable that Christine has long questioned whether the messages Caroline found on Lewis’s phone that night may have been from Lottie.
Now Lottie, the younger sister of One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson and one of the UK’s most sought after influencers, with more than four million followers on Instagram, has spoken about the scurrilous suggestion for the first time to the Mail.
Referring to the text messages Caroline is said to have found on Lewis’s phone that night, her agent said: ‘It is not true at all, they hadn’t even met before at the time of the incident. Hope this clears that rumour up.’
Today, Lottie, 27, and Lewis, 33, live together in a £800,000 five-bedroom, three-bathroom luxury home in Kent which they are renovating in the style of a Los Angeles mansion.
The property, which both Lottie and Lewis regularly post about on social media, even has its own Instagram account.
As one of Caroline’s friends tells me: ‘It must be devastating for Christine, she has lost her daughter and now Lewis has become some kind of influencer with his girlfriend, living in apparent bliss and about to become a father for the second time.
Caroline had been sacked from her job hosting the dating show Love Island in the lead up to her death on February 15, 2020
 ‘He has been able to move on with his life and find happiness, Caroline hasn’t and it is heartbreaking. Nobody expected Lewis to never find love again, of course he was entitled to, but it was all very quick.’
However, one pal of the couple jumps to Lottie’s defence to explain how she deserves happiness following the tragic death of her mother, Johanna Deakin, who died of cancer in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, her younger sister Felicite died from an accidental drug overdose. Felicitie was just 18 and had been struggling with depression following the loss of their mother.
It has now been almost five years since Caroline’s tragic death and as revealed by the Mail last month, her mother is making a second documentary about her suicide, this time for streaming giant Disney+.
The show, which will be released in a matter of months, will see Christine determined to discover the truth about Caroline’s final hours and also whether her death could have been avoided.
In a statement yesterday, she said: ‘I still have so many questions about what happened to Caroline in her final months, and it’s something I feel deeply compelled to explore, even though I know it will be challenging. I’m pleased to be working with the team at Curious Films once again, in the hope of bringing clarity and understanding to Carrie’s story – not just for her, but for everyone who cared about her.’
There are many targets, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and ITV – whom Christine is said to take ‘a very dim view of’ for sacking her daughter from her beloved job hosting the dating show Love Island.
Caroline killed herself after learning that her criminal trial for assaulting Lewis was going ahead, after initially being told she would only be given a caution.
Caroline had feared that the body cam footage taken by police on the night the incident took place would be played out in court. In a confession to a pal, she said she would ‘rather die’ than have the recordings played in a public arena.
Lewis was first spotted with influencer Lottie Tomlinson six months after Caroline’s death
The couple, pictured in 2023, have a son called Lucky and are awaiting the arrival of their daughterÂ
Earlier this year, Christine revealed that the Independent Office of Police Conduct has urged the Metropolitan Police to reopen its investigation into the case against Caroline.
The watchdog has recommended interviewing an officer who was present at the time of Caroline’s arrest. He was said to have been involved in the move to overrule the CPS’s decision to issue her with a caution.
Following the incident, Lewis refused to make a statement to the police, in the hope this would lead to the police dropping the charges, but they pressed ahead anyway. This decision by the police left Caroline ‘in pieces’, according to her friends.
She feared losing her job, her dignity and the love of her life. She was being looked after by her friends Louise Teasdale and Mollie Grosberg, who’d rushed to her side following a suicide attempt the day before her death.
Louise was one of Caroline’s best friends, and the pair would regularly party together. And it was through Louise that Lewis got to know Lottie: Louise became friends with Louis Tomlinson through her work as the stylist for One Direction in their heyday.
It’s a close friendship that endures today – another thing Christine finds very uncomfortable.
‘Christine could be forgiven for thinking that Caroline’s friends might have cast Lewis adrift,’ one former friend of the television host tells me. ‘But that isn’t the case and it is hard for her.
‘While nobody would try to argue that Caroline [wasn’t] an easy person to be around at times, it has been another part of Caroline’s death which has been difficult for Christine.
‘Lewis wasn’t always so nice to Caroline and there has been much talk about her giving him money for reasons that people don’t known for certain.
‘Christine and Louise are no longer close and her not ditching Lewis is thought to be a contributing factor for it. Christine thinks that if it hadn’t been for Caroline going out with Lewis, she might be here today.’
Others point out that Louise ‘did so much’ for Caroline and was utterly devastated by her death – something she believes she will never get over.
‘Caroline’s death was a tragedy,’ said one source close to Louise, who is now dating former Newcastle United and England footballer Andy Carroll.
‘She wanted nothing more than for Caroline to get better and get through what was such an awful time. She is still today utterly devastated by her death but she has known Lottie since she was a teenager.
‘Caroline’s friends are simply trying to get on with their lives after the most terrible thing happened. It is awful and heartbreaking for them, too.’
