Tragic Caroline Flack befriended many of the Love Island stars and kept an eye on them when they left the villa as she claimed it was “her job” to give them aftercare.
Fans are now questioning whether ITV bosses did the same for her after she was left depressed and in bits after stepping back from the dating programme she loved while facing an assault charge.
Love Island will feature a tribute to Caroline as it returns to our screens tomorrow night after a two-night break.
In an interview with the Daily Star last summer, the presenter revealed how, even before the tragic suicides of Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, she would check on the islanders to see how they were coping with their new found fame.
And knowing how fans would often troll many of them, she did her best to put them at ease when she interviewed them on TV.
Speaking at the launch of the 2019 series, which was to be her final stint on the ITV2 show, Caroline told how she would spend time with the contestants before they appeared on the spin-off Love Island: Aftersun to face questions from her about their time in the villa.
And some even went on to become good friends.
Caroline said last year: “I have never been the kind of presenter to make someone feel awkward and actually I make it my duty to make them feel as comfortable as possible.
(Image: PA)
“I am always mindful of this when I ask them questions. That’s my job to have a duty of care. I take that really seriously.
“I go and meet them before they come on the show and I would never have an islander just walk on without me going into their dressing room first and telling them exactly what I am going to ask them.
“I might ask you this or that but it means I am on your side.
“It makes them feel more comfortable so they don’t get nervous and they come on and we are already friends. It works a treat.
“We are not there to make anyone look stupid. It’s having trust with them too. Then they want to talk to you.
“I want them to think I am trustworthy.”
One islander she became very close to was Mike Thalassitis who appeared in the 2017 series but was found hanged in woods in Essex last year.
Speaking about his death, she said: “When I heard about it I was obviously shocked to start with and then incredibly sad because I had a friendship with Mike.”
When the news of Caroline’s death broke at the weekend, fans asked whether she herself had received any support in recent weeks.
Comments on social media included: “Did ITV provide aftercare for Caroline?” and “Love Island prides itself on ‘aftercare’ for islanders leaving the villa, but where was this when Caroline needed it?”
(Image: ITV/REX)
Another post read: “First Sophie, then Mike and now Caroline. Bosses need to look at how they conduct themselves in the aftercare department.”
ITV bosses cancelled Sunday night’s episode as well as Saturday’s as a mark of respect to the show’s former host.
It will return on Monday night on ITV2 at 9pm and has seven more days to go until Sunday’s final.
There is no official word on whether the summer edition will go ahead.
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