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Caroline Flack was ‘shoulder to cry on’ for Love Island contestants


Belle Hassan has opened up on the effect Caroline had on the Love Island contestants

Belle Hassan has revealed the important role Caroline Flack played in the lives of Love Island contestants, a week after the former presenter was found dead.

Caroline, 40, died by suicide on Saturday 15 February, with castmembers of the ITV2 show she presented sharing precious memories of her.

Now Belle, who was in the 2019 season of the reality programme, has spoken of how Caroline was the ‘shoulder to cry on’ for many in the villa.

Saying she ‘always seemed to happy’ Belle told The Sun on Sunday: ‘When she came into the villa she was there for us, a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand and an ear to listen to us.

‘She was someone to talk to, at happy times and sad times. Often when she was there someone would be leaving or had been given difficult news.’

Belle – who was partnered with Anton Danyluk throughout the series – recalled Caroline comforting Amber Gill, who was brutally dumped by Michael Griffiths after he chose to partner with Joanna Chimonides in the Casa Amor episodes last year.

Caroline’s slow-mo walk wasn’t all she added to Love Island (Picture: Rex Features)

She added: ‘Molly-Mae Hague was also in tears in that episode and Caroline gave her a big cuddle. Between takes she would go out of her way to compliment people. She would say she liked their dresses and tell the boys, “Oh, you look so handsome”.

‘I remember her telling me I had lovely long legs. She was always going out of her way to make people feel good about themselves.

‘She was such a loved person and we all loved her. To think she felt so low that she saw no way out is just heartbreaking.’

Love Island contestants paid tribute to Caroline in the aftermath of her tragic death, however since then former contestant Sophie Gradon’s mother has called for the show to be scrapped.

Amber Gill found an ally in Caroline after Casa Amor (Picture: Rex Features)

Sophie, who appeared in the 2016 series, died by suicide in 2018.

Former Love Island Caroline host took her own life weeks before she was set to face trial for assault. Caroline had pleaded not guilty in December to assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton during a row on 12 December, with Lewis, 27, also not supporting the prosecution.

In a previously unpublished statement shared by Caroline’s family after her death, the former X Factor host insisted she was ‘not a domestic abuser’.

She wrote: ‘On December the 12th 2019 I was arrested for common assault on my boyfriend …Within 24 hours my whole world and future was swept from under my feet and all the walls that I had taken so long to build around me, collapsed. I am suddenly on a different kind of stage and everyone is watching it happen.

Caroline died on 15 February (Picture: Rex Features)

‘I have always taken responsibility for what happened that night. Even on the night. But the truth is …. It was an accident.

‘I’ve been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time.

‘But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident. The blood that someone SOLD to a newspaper was MY blood and that was something very sad and very personal.

‘The reason I am talking today is because my family can’t take anymore. I’ve lost my job. My home. My ability to speak. And the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment.’

Caroline had shared on her Instagram story that she wanted to issue a statement, but never released it; she was told ‘not to post it by advisers’.

It is believed she found out her trial would definitely be going ahead hours before she took her own life.

MORE: Piers Morgan advised Caroline Flack to ‘keep her head down’ in heartbreaking last texts before death

MORE: Love Island’s Laura Whitmore ‘choosing love’ after difficult week following death of Caroline Flack





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