Caroline Flack Died by Suicide, Coroner Says

Caroline Flack, the former host of U.K.’s Love Island, died by suicide, a coroner said in London on Wednesday.

Her death was confirmed by her family on Saturday. She was 40. “We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today,” her family said Saturday. “We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time.”

While no cause of death was given at first, multiple reports in British news outlets noted that Flack was found unresponsive at her apartment in London.

A coroner in a Wednesday hearing at the start of the inquest said Flack’s provisional cause of death was death by suicide by hanging. 

Flack began her career on the comedy series Bo’ Selecta! in 2002 and went on to present shows on the ITV network such as The Xtra Factor. Flack began presenting ITV’s hit dating reality series Love Island in 2015, for which she became well known. The show follows a group of young men and women living in a Spanish villa together and hoping to find romantic connections.

Flack stepped down from the series in 2019 following a domestic assault charge involving her partner, tennis player Lewis Burton. She was replaced by Irish TV host Laura Whitmore. 

Flack’s family earlier on Wednesday released an unpublished Instagram post that she wrote days before she died. In it, she said that her “whole world and future was swept from under my feet” when she was arrested for the assault.

The death of Flack came a year and a half after season two Love Island contestant Sophie Gradon killed herself at her family home after mixing alcohol and cocaine, and 10 months after season three contestant Mike Thalassitis died, again by committing suicide.

ITV said on the weekend: “Everybody at Love Island and ITV is shocked and saddened by this desperately sad news. Caroline was a much-loved member of the Love Island team and our sincere thoughts and condolences are with her family and friends.”

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