It’s five years since the TV presenter killed herself after being charged with assaulting her partner. Her mother Christine wants the world to know what the police, crown prosecution service and media got wrong
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hen Christine Flack was invited by Disney to make a documentary about her daughter Caroline, one that would focus on the last few months before her suicide in 2020, of course she had to think hard. Why put Caroline back under the spotlight, expose her to more scrutiny, when tabloids and talkshows and social media had long since moved on?
“I knew there could be as many bad outcomes as good outcomes,” says Christine. “Certain things will be picked up and stories might come out, including ones that aren’t true. But I’d been trying for four years to understand what happened and I still had so many questions. I’d come to a brick wall so I went ahead.” She pauses for a moment before adding: “And whatever happens next, I always say that no one can do anything worse to me now. Nothing worse can happen than Caroline dying.”
Caroline Flack was one of Britain’s most successful presenters – and also one of the most talked about – when she was arrested in December 2019 and charged with assaulting her partner, Lewis Burton. She lost her job as the host of Love Island – she stepped down in order to not detract attention from the show. She lost her home – it was so besieged by the press that she never went back there after her arrest. She felt she lost the public, too, especially with the drip-drip of damning (crucially, incorrect) detail in tabloids and across social media.
