Flack has taken the flak because she’s not as big a star as Ant
NOT a very Merry Christmas for Love Island star Caroline Flack, who will appear in court on Monday, charged with assault by beating.
this follows an incident at her London home, involving her boyfriend, tennis player and model Lewis Burton. Although it was he who initially called the police and was then treated in hospital, he is being supportive, insisting that Caroline is ‘the most lovely girl, loyal and kind’.
A charming thing to say, in any circumstances, but verging on the heroic here.
However, after talks with ItV2, which produces the hugely successful Love Island franchise, Flack has agreed to stand down after presenting the dating show since 2015.
Inside the fruity Christmas pudding of her professional life, Caroline has just lost the prize plum. Indeed, at this moment, her whole career looks like shredded suet.
Is this entirely fair? Flack has yet to be convicted of any crime, yet she seems to be being judged far more harshly by tV bosses than, for instance, Ant McPartlin.
He somehow managed to keep all his high-profile jobs with ItV after causing a road accident and being convicted of drink-driving in 2018.
McPartlin was banned for 20 months and fined £86,000 — the UK’s highest ever penalty for being over the limit.
of course, it is true that no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident, but that was no thanks to him.
However, after the usual meek invocations about seeking help for his addictions and then a short spell of offscreen penury — standard celebrity punishment — McPartlin was back alongside Dec hosting I’m A Celebrity and appearing on Britain’s Got talent. As if nothing had ever happened.
Such a rosy outcome seems unlikely for Caroline Flack, despite his being the more serious misdemeanour. Does this suggest a gender imbalance; that female celebrities are punished more harshly than their male counterparts for any perceived transgressions? Feminists have been quick to support Caroline, as they suggest that this is indeed the case.
But had the sexes been reversed with a male celebrity allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in similar bloody circumstances, then his career would have been over, ceased to be, expired and pushing up daisies quicker than you could say ‘Johnny Depp’.
YET
woman as victim, no matter what happens, is a comforting and commonplace narrative in today’s society; a place where everybody is a nobody until they have suffered.
there is a scene in the hit film Marriage Story, where divorce lawyer Laura Dern explains to her client Scarlett Johansson that as far as the family courts are concerned, fathers are allowed to be imperfect, to drink wine and fall short as a parent, whereas mothers are not.
the man can be a mess, is the message, and it doesn’t matter. But the women will be judged on a higher moral basis.
‘You will always be held to a different, higher standard. And it’s f***ed up, but that is the way it is,’ says Dern. that may be so, but the truth is that there are completely different rules in televisionland to the ones that apply in real life; ones that have very little to do with gender and everything to do with power and money.
Let’s be honest. the element of domestic abuse in the charge against Caroline Flack makes it completely unfeasible for her to continue to present a relationship show about couples coupling up and lovers loving.
Love Island is a global hit for ItV Studios, a lucrative franchise that makes millions and connects delighted advertisers to its high- spending millennial audience.
AFTER
two former contestants committed suicide in separate incidents, there have been concerns — regarding mental health support and other issues — about the show.
tV bosses determined to protect the valuable brand simply cannot risk the corrosive whiff of violence, instability and scandal that clings to their presenter at the moment.
So bye bye, sweet Caroline. For the moment at least. After a short spell in celebrity jail perhaps she will be back to bewitch once more.
Why does Ant McPartlin still have his job while Caroline Flack has lost hers?
It is not about gender, but all about how big a star you are — and they don’t come much bigger than Ant & Dec, who have won the National television Award as best presenters for 18 years running.
the public absolutely adore the Geordie duo, who are pivotal to the success of their shows, who can make or break new formats and who are absolutely irreplaceable.
on the other hand, Caroline Flack is incidental to the success of Love Island and could easily be replaced by about half a dozen comely presenters.
So it is about everything but being a girl, and it would be good if that were acknowledged, rather than turned into another phoney battle on the sex war front.