Caroline Flack's mum Christine believes more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presenters following her tragic death in 2020.
Family and friends of Caroline have worked together to put on a star-studded festival in honour of the former Love Island host, Flackstock, in order to raise valuable funds for mental health charities.
Caroline took her own life on February 15th, 2020, at the age of 40.
Her passing came two months after her arrest following an incident involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. She had later discovered that prosecutors were to press ahead with an assault charge.
Caroline reportedly stepped down from her Love Island role in December 2019 and her mother thinks ITV should have done more to help her daughter.
Speaking to The Sun, she said: "The duty of care with presenters needs to be better. If you work in an office you’re safe-guarded, but on TV you’re not — you’re exposed."
She added: "Love Island thrived on arguments and they probably still do, I haven’t watched it since.
"But when it came to Caroline, they sacked her because of her love life. It was totally wrong.
"I watched it because Carrie was on it and I loved it because she absolutely loved it. She loved the crew and the contestants. It was ironic when her love life was in trouble."
Christine also revealed that Caroline was diagnosed with bipolar just weeks before her death.
She said: "I think Carrie didn’t say anything about her mental health publicly because she didn’t want anyone to know.
"That was part of the condition. You’d have massive highs, but then when you’re low it’s bad. I hope people who are suffering realise that of course it is OK to feel like that."
The idea for Flackstock came from close friend and fellow TV presenter Natalie Pinkham, who dreamt of the idea before ringing Christine for her thoughts.
With the help of other celebrity friends such as Dawn O'Porter and Leigh Francis among others, Flackstock came to fruition and will see performances from the likes of Tom Grennan, Natalie Imbruglia and Pixie Lott and appearances from Dermot O'Leary, Joel Dommett and Paddy McGuinness.
The festival will be held at Englefield House near Reading on Monday July 25, supporting mental charities; the Charlie Waller Trust, Choose Love, Mind and the Samaritans.
Friends of Caroline have expressed their pride over taking part in the event and raising awareness of mental health treatments.
Natalie Imbruglia, who is set to perform, told the Sunday Mirror: “Caroline’s life was music, dance and comedy on repeat. That is all she lived for. The lockdown happened straight after she died. We had a funeral but we didn’t have a proper memorial.
"Her death has been hard to process and we had to do it on our own. It’s a coming together of all her friends and family. I still find it difficult to talk about her in the past tense.”
The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.
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