Caroline Flack's mum Christine believes that more should be done to protect the mental health of TV presenters following her death in 2020, reports The Mirror.
Caroline's family and friends have worked together to put on a star-studded festival in honour or the former Love Island host, Flackstock, in order to raise money for mental health charities. Caroline took her own life on February 15, 2020, at the age of 40.
Her death came two months after her arrest following an incident involving her boyfriend Lewis Burton. She had later discovered prosecutors were going to press ahead with an assault charge.
Read more: The life of Caroline Flack will be celebrated at Flackstock festival - here is all you need to know
Caroline was reported to have stepped down from her Love Island role in December 2019 and her mum 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 had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder just weeks before her death. She continued: "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 went to Christine for her thoughts after thinking up the idea. With the help of other celeb friends including Leigh Francis and Dawn O'Porter, Flackstock came to fruition and will see performances from Tom Grennan, Natalie Imbruglia and Pixie Lott, as well as appearances from Dermot O'Leary, Joel Dommett and Paddy McGuinness.
Flackstock will go ahead at Englefield House near Reading on Monday July 25, supporting mental health charities: the Charlie Waller Trust, Choose Love, Mind and the Samaritans. Friends of Caroline have expressed their pride at taking part in the event and raising awareness of mental health treatments.
Natalie Imbruglia told the 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."
Read next
-
Dame Kelly Holmes comes out as gay after 34 years and says 'I'm finally free'
-
Caroline Flack documentary leaves viewers in tears as hearts go out to her family
-
Caroline Flack's mum told her to 'get rid of phone' to avoid abuse from trolls
-
Nick Knowles reveals reason he slammed online trolls who attacked his 32-year-old girlfriend
-
Roman Kemp documentary Our Silent Emergency leaves fans heartbroken as star reveals he felt suicidal
