Former Love Island UK host Laura Whitmore is looking back on her friendship with Caroline Flack with fondness.
On Friday, February 14, Whitmore wrote a lengthy post via Instagram that featured photos of herself and Flack, who died in February 2020 at age 40. Her post also included screenshots of text messages shared between the two women.
“I got a new phone this month,” Whitmore, 39, wrote, explaining that as she attempted to download WhatsApp messages from her iCloud, a lot of older messages popped up instead.
Whitmore shared that the messages between herself and Flack “show a side to Caroline which is nice to remember.”
“She wasn’t perfect and I didn’t know her as well as others but I knew she had her demons,” the Love Island UK host continued. “I met Caroline in 2011 when I took over from her hosting I’m a celebrity get me out of here now. She was as supportive of me doing that role back then as she was when she supported me doing Love Island in 2020.”
Flack began hosting Love Island on ITV2 in 2015. “Both were great shows,” Whitmore added, “with hundreds of people working on them and relying on the show going ahead. I will always be so thankful of the last messages between me and Caroline.”
Whitmore wrote she “never asked [Flack] about the court case — it wasn’t my business,” noting, “I didn’t know her partner at the time and I still don’t. Every time I’ve been asked to speak about the situation or be part of a documentary I decline.”
Flack was found dead in her East London home on February 15, 2020, and it was later confirmed she had died by suicide. In the weeks leading up to her death, Flack had allegedly been involved in a physical altercation with her boyfriend Lewis Burton and authorities were moving forward with an assault charge, per The Guardian.
Flack’s family shared an unpublished Instagram message from the former host the day she was found dead. In the message, which was published by the New York Times, Flack “took responsibility for what happened” the night she was arrested and insisted she “was NOT a domestic abuser.”
“I’ve already said all I can say on the tragedy and don’t want words to be misconstrued and need to look after my own mental health. This was the last correspondence I ever had with her. I really did hope she was somewhere lovely,” Whitmore’s Friday caption continued. “I never knew the extent of her struggles or what was to come. The last message from her to me were love hearts. I’d like to think wherever she is now, she’s at peace and somewhere lovely like I hoped.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
