Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English radio and television presenter.

She began her career as an actress, starring in Bo' Selecta! (2002) and presented various ITV2 spin-off shows such as I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! (2009–2010) and The Xtra Factor (2011–2013).

Flack won the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and the following year began presenting on series such as Love Island and The X Factor, replacing long-standing presenter Dermot O'Leary on the latter.

Flack left Love Island in December 2019, after being arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend. On 15 February 2020, three weeks before the trial was to begin, Flack took her own life.

Personal life

In 2009, Flack was reported to be dating Prince Harry, but it ended quickly after the media reported on the relationship, according to her autobiography.

In 2011 Flack had a brief relationship with One Direction member Harry Styles, who was 17 at the time while she was aged 31. She was in a relationship with music manager Jack Street, who managed Sam Smith, in 2014 and 2015. 

In 2018, she was briefly engaged to reality TV star Andrew Brady.

In 2015, she came 5th in FHM's Sexiest Women.

On 14 December 2019, Flack was accused of assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton. Flack denied the charges, and Burton insisted that he was not a victim, instead describing himself as a witness. She was due to go to trial on 4 March 2020. Burton posted an affectionate Valentine's Day message to Flack's Instagram account the day before she died.

Early life

Flack was born in Enfield, London, the youngest of four children born to Ian Flack and Christine Callis. The family moved to Thetford, Norfolk, shortly after her birth, when her father, who worked as a sales representative for Coca-Cola, was promoted to management. When Flack was 7, the family moved again to nearby East Wretham. Flack and her twin sister, Jody, were born when their sister Elizabeth was 10 and brother, Paul, 8. Jody, who was six minutes older, was originally supposed to be called Caroline, but her mother decided the name did not fit her. She attended Great Hockham Primary School and Wayland Community High School in Watton, Norfolk.

TV career

In 2002, Flack gained her break on television playing Bubbles on the sketch show Bo' Selecta! She then presented the International Pepsi Chart Show, before moving to Channel 4 where, in 2005, she presented links between videos on E4 Music and co-presented The Games: Live at Trackside on E4 with Justin Lee Collins. In 2005, she also had a regular segment on the video games show When Games Attack. A year later, she co-presented the Saturday morning show TMi with Sam and Mark, which aired on BBC Two and the CBBC Channel. Subsequently, she hosted the CBBC show Escape from Scorpion Island together with Reggie Yates.

In March 2007, Flack hosted the CBBC coverage of Comic Relief does Fame Academy, commenting on the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with Paddy O'Connell. She also hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth during Week 5 of the 2008 series. Daily Mirror journalist Rob Leigh commented that "her sharp delivery makes her the best presenter they’ve had on this series". However, this was not the first time that Flack was linked to Big Brother. Before the series began, it had been reported that she was Dermot O'Leary's replacement on Big Brother's Little Brother.

In 2009, Flack replaced Kirsty Gallacher as co-host of Gladiators with Ian Wright for the second series on Sky1. In July 2009, she was a substitute presenter on the BBC's Sunday show Something for the Weekend, while Amanda Hamilton was on maternity leave. In the same year, she began hosting the ITV2 reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here NOW! Scheduling clashes with I'm a Celebrity meant that she could not film the next series of TMi, leading to her bowing out after three series. In November 2010, she returned to host I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here Now! on ITV2. Also in 2009, Flack won BBC Three's Dancing on Wheels with disabled partner James O'Shea and the pair represented Great Britain in the 2009 Wheelchair Dancing European Championships in Tel Aviv, finishing 16th in their category.

Flack co-presented game show The Whole 19 Yards with Vernon Kay on ITV in 2010. She also modelled for the lads' mag Maxim. On 16 February 2010, she presented backstage at the 2010 Brit Awards on ITV2. In 2011, Flack was a team captain on the ITV2 game show Minute to Win It.

In May 2011, Simon Cowell announced that Flack and Olly Murs would co-present the eighth series of The Xtra Factor, replacing Konnie Huq. Flack and Murs both returned for the ninth series. Flack returned for the tenth series in 2013, while Murs was replaced by Matt Richardson. On 12 June 2014, it was confirmed that Flack would not return for series 11 and was replaced by Sarah-Jane Crawford.

In 2014, Flack hosted the ITV2 show Viral Tap. In December 2014, she reunited with Murs to host a Christmas Day and New Year's Eve programme on British radio station Magic. On 16 April 2015, it was announced that Flack, along with Murs would replace Dermot O'Leary as the hosts for the 12th series of The X Factor from August 2015. 

On 22 February 2016, Flack and Murs confirmed that they would not be returning for the 13th series of The X Factor and were permanently replaced by O'Leary.

Flack began to present ITV2's Love Island in June 2015 and its spin-off show Love Island: Aftersun when the third series was broadcast from June 2017. On 17 December 2019, Flack announced that she would be standing down as host for the sixth series following allegations of assault towards her boyfriend.

Flack authored an autobiography called "Storm in a C Cup" in 2015. On 18 December 2015, Flack was part of the presenting team for ITV's Christmas telethon Text Santa. 

On 8 May 2016, Flack began co-presenting Sunday Morning Breakfast from 9 am to noon over the summer with Gethin Jones across the Heart Network.

Flack had been due to present a reality series about cosmetic surgery called The Surjury on Channel 4, but it was cancelled following her death in February 2020.

Strictly Come Dancing

In August 2014, Flack was announced as a contestant on the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing. Her professional partner was Pasha Kovalev. The couple earned the first perfect 40 of the series for their salsa in the semi-finals, followed by an additional 3 in the finals giving them a perfect total of 120 points, a feat unmatched in the history of the competition. On 20 December 2014, Flack and Kovalev were crowned the champions of the series.

Death

Flack was found dead in her East London flat on 15 February 2020. A lawyer for her family confirmed that she had taken her own life. A Love Island highlights episode, due to be shown on ITV2 on the day of her death, was cancelled out of respect. Tributes were paid to her from fans, former Love Island contestants and celebrities.

Flack's management criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for pressing ahead with her "show trial" even after her boyfriend said he did not support it.