Caroline Flack's family release unpublished Instagram post she wrote days before death
The family of British TV personality Caroline Flack have released an unpublished Instagram post she wrote weeks before she took her own life.
Ms Flack died on February 15, at age 40. She had worked as a TV presenter in the UK for almost a decade including on popular shows Love Island and X Factor.
Ms Flack stepped down from her presenting role on the UK’s Love Island, after it was alleged she assaulted her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, 27, at her apartment in London in December last year. She later plead not guilty to assault and was set to stand trial next month.
According to the Eastern Daily Press, Ms Flack wrote the statement, which was shared in full with the publication, days before her death. Ms Flack was reportedly advised not to share the post on social media.
“So many untruths were out there but this is how she felt and my family and I would like people to read her own words,” Ms Flack’s mother, Chris, told the Eastern Daily Press.
The statement addresses the December 12 assault and the ramifications it had on Ms Flack’s life, she states she is not an abuser, and the incident was an accident.
“I have always taken responsibility for what happened that night. Even on the night. But the truth is .... It was an accident,” she said in the previously unpublished post.
“But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident. The blood that someone SOLD to a newspaper was MY blood and that was something very sad and very personal.”
Ms Flack said the reason she intended to speak out when she wrote the post was because her family couldn’t “take anymore”, citing all she had lost since the incident – her job, her home and her “ability to speak”.
“And the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment,” she lamented.
Caroline Flack’s statement in full:
“For a lot of people, being arrested for common assault is an extreme way to have some sort of spiritual awakening but for me it's become the normal.
“I've been pressing the snooze button on many stresses in my life - for my whole life. I've accepted shame and toxic opinions on my life for over 10 years and yet told myself it's all part of my job. No complaining.
“The problem with brushing things under the carpet is .... they are still there and one day someone is going to lift that carpet up and all you are going to feel is shame and embarrassment.
“On December the 12th 2019 I was arrested for common assault on my boyfriend ...Within 24 hours my whole world and future was swept from under my feet and all the walls that I had taken so long to build around me, collapsed. I am suddenly on a different kind of stage and everyone is watching it happen.
“I have always taken responsibility for what happened that night. Even on the night. But the truth is .... It was an accident.
“I've been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time.
“But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident. The blood that someone SOLD to a newspaper was MY blood and that was something very sad and very personal.
“The reason I am talking today is because my family can't take anymore. I've lost my job. My home. My ability to speak. And the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment.
“I can't spend every day hidden away being told not to say or speak to anyone.
“I'm so sorry to my family for what I have brought upon them and for what my friends have had to go through.
“I'm not thinking about 'how I'm going to get my career back.' I'm thinking about how I'm going to get mine and my family's life back.
“I can't say anymore than that.”
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
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