My fury at Love Island hypocrites who f ired Caroline, by her mum
CAROLINE Flack’s heartbroken mother has accused ITV show Love Island of being ‘hypocritical’ for sacking her when their own producers encourage contestants to row to attract viewers.
Christine Flack hit out at the reality series which her late daughter hosted from its launch in 2015 because it ditched her after she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton in December 2019.
The star, who took her life in February last year, was replaced by Irish presenter Laura Whitmore while she awaited trial.
In an interview with The Sun yesterday, Mrs Flack said of the programme: ‘It’s making them fight and argue, and they set them up for that. And yet they sacked Carrie straight away [after her row with Lewis]. I haven’t watched Love Island since she died. Carrie loved that show, she loved the crew, she loved the contestants.’
Mrs Flack, who confirmed her daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly before she hanged herself at her East London flat, told how upset she was at ITV for replacing her daughter with Miss Whitmore for the first-ever winter edition of the series. It was filmed in South Africa while Miss Flack was waiting to go on trial.
Miss Whitmore was too similar to her daughter, she complained. ‘It’s horrible when the advert comes up and the girl that’s taken her place is in almost the same dress, in almost the same pose,’ Mrs Flack said. ‘I think ITV2 could have done it a little differently. They could have done it out of respect. It’s all very well putting these films on saying, “Oh, we love Carrie blah blah blah.” But you know, just have a little bit of respect.’
Friends of Miss Flack, who died aged 40, are also furious at ITV’s treatment of her. They think it was unfair that Ant McPartlin’s job was kept open for him while he was on a drink-driving charge.
Following her daughter’s death, Mrs Flack accused a Met Police officer of treating the presenter harshly over the assault incident because she was a celebrity.