Laura Whitmore shares final messages from Caroline Flack
Caroline Flack (left) and Laura Whitmore both presented Love Island
- Published
TV presenter Laura Whitmore has revealed the final messages between her and Caroline Flack on the fifth anniversary of her death.
Flack, who had hosted Love Island and The X Factor, took her own life on 15 February 2020, aged 40.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, external, Whitmore posted screenshots of exchanges between the pair, in which she told Flack she had just been offered a role presenting Love Island.
Flack responded that she was "glad" she'd landed the role, and said she was "really looking forward to watching the show".
She added that it was "perfect" that Whitmore would be on the ITV series with her husband Iain Stirling, who narrates it, before posting a string of love hearts.
Flack hosted the reality dating show between 2015 and 2019, with Whitmore taking over presenting duties in 2020 before leaving in 2022.
Caroline Flack was found dead at her home in Stoke Newington
Whitmore said she'd found the old messages earlier this month, when she got a new phone and was trying to download WhatsApp messages from the cloud.
"It really hit me hard," she wrote.
"Looking at messages I've never publicly shared as they were private messages. Media outlets wrote a lot far from the actual truth.
"I think they show a side to Caroline which is nice to remember. Hence I'm sharing now."
Whitmore, who said she first met Flack when she took over from her hosting I'm a Celebrity's spin-off show on ITV2 in 2011, said she would always be "so thankful" for the last messages she exchanged with Flack.
"Every time I've been asked to speak about the situation or be part of a documentary I decline," she wrote.
"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," she said, adding: "The last message from her to me were love hearts."
In the text message exchange, Whitmore tells Flack: "Hope you're somewhere lovely and see you soon."
Referring back to that in her post on Saturday, Whitmore wrote: "I'd like to think wherever she is now, she's at peace and somewhere lovely like I hoped."
She also said that she was saddened to see the press and social media being "so divisive", adding: "We still haven't learned from Caroline's treatment before her death when it comes to women in the spotlight."
In August 2020, a coroner ruled that Flack had taken her own life while she was facing trial accused of assaulting her boyfriend.
The inquest heard sections of the media had been "hounding" the presenter over the alleged assault of Lewis Burton, which she denied.
The coroner said that Flack's mental health had deteriorated following her arrest.
The mother of the late TV presenter will be exploring the final months of her daughter's life in a new documentary.
In the film, called Caroline, Christine Flack will reflect on the events leading up to her death, and her daughter's career.
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