The family of deceased TV presenter Caroline Flack has released an unpublished message written by the star, as an inquest into her death began on Wednesday.
Flack, the former host of the hit UK reality show “Love Island,” died by suicide at her northeast London apartment on February 15 as she awaited trial for an alleged assault of her boyfriend. She was 40.
Flack’s family said she had been told not to post the message on social media, but they decided to release it via local newspaper Eastern Daily Press.
“So many untruths were out there but this is how she felt and my family and I would like people to read her own words,” said Chris Flack, Caroline’s mother.
“Carrie was surrounded by love and friends but this was just too much for her.”
Asking for help
The suicide rate in the United States has seen sharp increases in recent years. Studies have shown that the risk of suicide declines sharply when people call the national suicide hotline: 1-800-273-TALK.
The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.
In the previously unreleased message, Flack denied that she domestically abused her partner, Lewis Burton, and called the incident an “accident.”
Flack’s lawyer, Paul Morris, said Burton did not support the prosecution, and was a witness, “not a victim,” the UK’s PA news agency reported at the time of a preliminary hearing in December 2019.
A representative for Burton told CNN they would not be making any comment at this time.
In the message Flack wrote about how she had put off dealing with the stresses in her life.
“I’ve accepted shame and toxic opinions on my life for over 10 years and yet told myself it’s all part of my job. No complaining,” she wrote.
“The problem with brushing things under the carpet is …. they are still there and one day someone is going to lift that carpet up and all you are going to feel is shame and embarrassment.”
“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.”
The release of the message from Flack came on the same day as the start of an inquest at Poplar Coroner’s Court in London into her death.
Inquests are carried out whenever there is reason to believe that a death was due to something other than natural causes.
