Caroline Flack: ‘Maybe we’ll get married in the Love Island villa!’
Caroline Flack spills the beans on Love Island and her own fairy-tale romance
Most of the country seems to be hooked on the fourth series of
Love Island – it’s the perfect daily dose of sunny escapism. In the sizzling summer reality TV show that moves a group of ridiculously goodlooking young men and women (including frontrunner Dani Dyer, EastEnders star Danny’s daughter) into a luxury Majorcan villa together - they must couple up, and win the hearts of the public, to survive. Its host, a sunkissed Caroline Flack, is positively glowing. And it’s not just the Spanish sun working its magic, it’s also that Caroline, 38, is lovedup herself - with her toy boy fiancé, former
CBB contestant Andrew Brady, 27, following a shock holiday proposal after dating for just a few months. Here she talks
Love Island, the lesson she’s learned the hard way, and wedding plans. Hi Caroline, is your approach to this year’s show different, now that you’re ‘settled down’?! I still don’t think I’m the right person to give advice, no! I’m not like, ‘Guys, listen to me. I’m settled down now, so...’ I’m there to look after the contestants – the only advice I give them is how to deal with fame. My big tip is not to read what people say on Twitter.
Love Island
Does doing make you more romantic?
Definitely. I love the journey they all go on – the declarations at the end always make me cry. It’s like real life but amplified – you see them going through what most people do in six months in just a few weeks! But in real life, we’re still on Tinder deciding if we’re going to match with that person or not.
Which, of course, there’s none of in the villa…
Exactly, they don’t have phones or social media, it’s all about the art of conversation. It makes me laugh when they say how they feel about each other after only a few days – I wouldn’t do that for six months!
Do you believe you can fall in love after six months?
One hundred per cent. Most of my relationships I’ve known instantly. It’s about a connection – if it’s there, you know. Love can be so simple but also complicated – that spark with someone is hard to describe.
Do you get bad behaviour from contestants?
Not a lot – we don’t have any ‘nasties’. It’s rare in reality TV – but for us, the drama comes from the relationships. I couldn’t handle Jonny Mitchell making Camilla Thurlow cry, I watched that
on my phone in my hotel reception. I was crying and the staff were looking at me like, ‘ Who is this woman crying at her phone?!’ But heartbreak is normal. We hated Jonny at the time, but he just didn’t feel that way about Camilla. She got herself a Calvin Klein model in the end, though!
Are you still in touch with anyone from the last series?
Olivia Buckland has asked for my address to invite me to her wedding [to fellow Islander Alex Bowen], so hopefully I’ll be going to that! And I speak to Camilla, because she works with my best friend, who runs a refugee charity.
Lots of couples have split since last year’s show. Is that disappointing?
Not all relationships last. It doesn’t make what they all had worthless – it just makes it a relationship. It does make me feel sad, though, it’s like seeing a friend go through a break-up.
Do you follow your advice?
I do now, but I learned that the hard way. I now know that it’s unnecessary to read bad stuff about anybody, including myself. No matter what you have going on, you’ll always find something negative online – there’s no point in looking.
What about the Love Island baby – have you met Cara and Nathan’s boy?
I’ve not seen them, but I’m glad they’re back together. It’s amazing to think this show can create real love. Alex and Olivia are brilliant together, which is funny because I was dubious when they got together. But that’s the great thing about Love Island, we test relationships and how resilient they are.
Are the odds stacked against couples, dealing with fame after the villa?
It doesn’t matter that you’re in the public eye, that doesn’t change a relationship. That’s why it’s hard when you make one mistake and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, my God!’ And you’re thinking, ‘I’m just normal!’ The only difference is you have everyone commenting on it.
Congrats on your engagement! Your ring is very Meghan Markle...
Is it? I didn’t know that! I’ve never been the sort of girl who has designed a wedding dress in her mind. But I’m happy.
Have you started planning?
No, I don’t know what to do to organise a wedding! I was hoping someone would call me up and say, ‘I hear you’re getting married, do you want me to organise it for you?!’ But no one has. Maybe I’ll get married in the villa...
Love Island continues on ITV2, every night, 9pm