3rd tragedy to hit UK reality TV show
|Published
DIED: Ex-Love Island star Mike Thalassitis DIED: Ex-Love Island star Mike Thalassitis
Caroline Flack’s death at the age of 40 is the third tragic incident to hit Love Island since the hit UK reality TV show began.
The former show host’s suicide follows the deaths of previous contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon.
A lawyer for the Flack family confirmed the popular TV personality took her own life and was found in her east London flat on Saturday.
A family spokesperson said: “We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today, the 15th of February.
“We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time.”
Caroline, the Strictly Come Dancing2014 winner, started presenting dating show Love Island in 2015 and was a hit with fans.
But in December last year, it was announced the star would be standing down as host for its sixth series after it emerged she had been charged with allegedly assaulting her boyfriend.
HOUNDED: Love Island host Caroline Flack
Lewis Burton, 27, had claimed she hit him with a lamp at her home in December before later backtracking on the claim.
As part of her bail conditions, the pair were banned from contacting each other.
She denied attacking Lewis and was released on bail until her trial on March 4.
The UK press had hounded Caroline, who regularly made headlines since the scandal broke.
Love Island was first hit by tragedy in 2018, when Gradon took her own life at her parent’s home in Northumberland.
An inquest found the 32-year-old hanged herself after taking cocaine and alcohol.
Her body was found by her boyfriend, Adam Armstrong.
Tragically, Adam was found hanged just 20 days after she died, having taken a similar cocktail of cocaine and dop.
Thalassitis, who appeared on the show in 2017, also took his own life after taking cocaine and alcohol in March 2019.
He was found hanging by a woman out jogging at a park near his north London home.
According to fellow contestant Montana Brown, Mike had been in a “dark place” in the months before he died.
ITV has announced it would be stepping up its care procedures following a public outcry over the welfare of cast members.