Overdoses, self-harm ...Caroline could not cope with heartbreak
Mum and sister on how love life woes fuelled TV star’s depression
THE pain of failed romances drove tragic Caroline Flack to depression and overdose attempts throughout her life, a documentary reveals.
Family and friends tell how the Love Island presenter, who also self-harmed, tried to keep her struggle to cope with her heartache a secret as she kept acting out a self-destructive pattern.
And they reveal how press coverage of her troubled life affected her mood in the months before she committed suicide in February last year, aged 40.
Twin sister Jody, 41, says Caroline’s first love was an older boy she met at a fairground – and she ran away from home when it didn’t work out.
She says: “We didn’t know where she was and she’d gone to his house and was banging on his door. She really struggled, emotionally, she was very depressed. And that pattern carried on for ever.
“She really did find heartbreak impossible.”
Mum Christine, 70, says the first serious problems came when Caroline was at drama school, aged 16.
She says: “She had a long relationship but it ended. And then we got a call that she had taken some pills, and she spent time in hospital. You could tell it wasn’t right… her reaction wasn’t right. She didn’t handle heartbreak well.”
Jody adds: “Each serious boyfriend, she sort of took a lot of tablets and drank a lot, ended up in an A&E situation. A lot of times. And she didn’t think she could cope with that feeling. And so I think it was her trying to control it.
“She was quite fascinated by suicide always. And I knew that about her so, yeah, it was a worry for a long time.”
Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death, on Channel 4 next week, also features TV pals Olly Murs and Dermot O’Leary, who speak about how life in the spotlight on shows like The X Factor and Love Island affected her.
Media focus on Caroline’s life intensified when she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, i n
December 2019 after finding texts from another woman on his phone, which were later said to be a misunderstanding. After crisis talks with ITV, Caroline agreed to step down as Love Island host.
Her former agent, Louisa MacDonald, says she was “devastated” and pal Anna Blue adds: “All the things she’d worked for were gone. Maybe she’d never get that back. Maybe she’d have to find something else to do. There wasn’t a Plan B.”
A newspaper published photos of her bloodstained bed after the row – but it was her own blood from self-harming.
Her mum says: “She had to have plastic surgery on her arm where she had cut it so bad. She did do that when she got really low. She had cut herself before.” Coroner Mary Hassell found Caroline killed herself because she knew she faced trial and could not deal with the press.
Her family hope the film, which features lots of home movies, will show the real Caroline and give her fans more confidence to talk about their problems.
Asked what she blames her death on, Christine says: “That’s difficult. You could say if she hadn’t met Lewis.
“If she’d got off with a caution. If she hadn’t done that [got in row]. I just don’t know.
“But Cari’s state of mind was such that any of those things could have done it.
“Someone else could have probably dealt with it but she couldn’t. She just hated the thought that people thought she was this awful person.
“Even when she’d taken pills as a young person she didn’t want anyone to know. I know they say everyone’s talking about it now but I think a lot of people with depression still don’t talk about it.” ●Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death airs on March 17, 9pm, Channel 4. Anyone who needs support should call the Samaritans on 116 123, or visit samaritans. org or email jo@samaritans org
THE Pope yesterday released a dove of peace in the shattered ruins of Mosul, a former stronghold of Islamic State.
He called for Christians, Muslims and Yazidis who fled the carnage in Iraqi cities to offer forgiveness in the wake of the brutal regime’s reign of terror. The 84-year-old visited Mosul on the last day of his historic visit to the country that has been ravaged by war. Speaking in the shadow of four smashed churches, Pope Francis told the crowd: “How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilisation, should have been afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed and many thousands of people, Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, who were cruelly annihilated by terrorism, and others forcibly displaced or killed.” Mosul,
Iraq’s second largest city, was at the heart of the Isis caliphate and witnessed the worst of the group’s rule, including beheadings and mass killings. It was liberated in July 2017 but few Christians have returned.
The Pope urged them to help rebuild the community and restore the country’s “intricately designed carpet” of faith and ethnic groups. He also highlighted the plight of the Yazidi minority, which was subjected to mass killings, abductions and sexual slavery at the hands of Isis.
Pope Francis was joined by Reverend Raed Kallo, one of the few Christians now in Mosul. He said: “My Muslim brothers received me after the liberation of the city with great hospitality and love.
“Today I live among two million Muslims who call me their Father Raed.”
A JUSTICE campaign for women accused of being witches in Scotland has called for action as global allegations of sorcery surge in the pandemic.
Today, International Women’s Day, marks the first anniversary of the Witches of Scotland (WoS) project.
About 2500 alleged witches in Scotland are believed to have been executed, tortured, strangled and burned at the stake between the 16th and 18th centuries.
WoS – founded by Claire Mitchell QC and writer Zoe Venditozzi – has launched a petition which will be presented to the Scottish Parliament this month.
It is calling for a national monument to be erected and a legal pardon for those who fell victim to the Witchcraft Act 1563.
The organisation claims allegations of witchcraft persist in the persecution of women and children today and the United Nations has warned of a “significant increase” in accusations of witchcraft scapegoating.
Last year in the UK, allegations of witchcraft – mainly in the African and Asian diaspora – were a factor in the abuse of 2080 at-risk children, a rise of seven per cent from the previous year.
The Metropolitan Police voiced concerns that children were being targeted by malevolent forces looking for a reason to blame someone for “illness, death, job losses or financial struggles” related to Covid.
Hundreds of women are banished to “witch camps” in Ghana, thousands have been killed for alleged sorcery in India and Saudi Arabia has an anti-witchcraft police
HISTORY The Witches’ Well in Edinburgh unit. Venditozzi said: “Our campaign is not only about historical wrongs but also issues of witchcraft in some countries. It is still being used as a way to target women and children. “If Scotland views itself as a forward-thinking, compassionate country that supports parity between the sexes, we need to show we can reckon with the past and move into the future, clearly saying, ‘This is not acceptable’. We can act as a beacon to other countries.” Mitchell, who specialises in miscarriages of justice, visited the Witches’ Well in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, where about 300 “witches” were burned at the stake. She said: “I felt real anger that there was no apology to these people and no recognition of the terrible wrongs done to them. “I want pardons for people convicted as witches, an apology for those accused who didn’t make it to trial and a national memorial – where people can see what happened in the past.” For more on the Witches of Scotland project – and to sign the petition before March 17 – go to www. witchesofscotland.com