‘Just so incredibly sad’: Fans and celebrities react to Caroline Flack documentary

Channel 4 programme sees late Love Island presenter’s family pay tribute

Fans and celebrities have flocked to Twitter to urge people to watch the documentary about Caroline Flack that aired on Channel 4 last night (17 March).

Caroline Flack: Her Life and Death sees the former Love Island presenter’s friends and family pay tribute to her and talk about the events that led to her taking her own life in February last year.

Flack died by suicide just weeks before she was due to face trial over allegations that she had assaulted her boyfriend Lewis Burton at her flat, which she denied.

The documentary sees Flack’s mother Christine and twin sister Jody discuss her past mental health struggles as well as the abuse she received on social media and in the tabloid press.

BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker tweeted: “The #CarolineFlack documentary is just so incredibly sad. I know it’s easy to say this but it should be a reminder to us all to judge our words carefully. None of us truly know what others are going through.”

Radio 1’s Dean McCullough added: “Is it just me or does it still not feel real? Don’t know what it was about her passing but it floored me. I feel for her family so much.”

Read more:

• Patsy Palmer ‘does a Piers Morgan’ and storms off Good Morning Britain live on air
• The Simpsons producer defends series after Homer is rewritten as a teenager in the Nineties
• Netflix secret codes: How to access hidden films

“My god. That was tough,” posted comedian Russell Kane.

In a review of the documentary for The Independent, Ed Cumming wrote: “Between Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah and the Britney Spears documentary, the treatment of women in the public eye has been under renewed scrutiny recently. There was a horrible element of misogyny in how Flack was treated by the press. Social media is a swamp. Flack’s was the fourth suicide of people associated with Love Island.

“Everyone associated with this destructive circus, critics included, ought to think about their complicity. But at the heart of Flack’s short, sad life is a conundrum: how can you tell if you’re cut out for fame before it’s too late? The answer has to come from within, or from those who know you best. You can’t put it to the public.”

Flack had been collaborating with Channel 4 to make the documentary before she died, leaving her family to take up the mantle.

In the programme, Christine calls out paparazzi for following her and two other 70-year-olds across London the night she cleaned up the blood in Flack’s flat.

She also condemns Graham Norton and Lorraine Kelly for laughing about Flack’s career troubles over the years.

You can find helpful tips on how to start a conversation, or if you are worried about someone else, on Samaritans website. You can contact the Samaritans helpline by calling 116 123. The helpline is free and open 24 hours a day every day of the year. You can also contact Samaritans by emailing jo@samaritans.org. The average response time is 24 hours.