Caroline Flack fans are marking the first anniversary of her death today.
The 40-year-old died in February 2020 after a traumatic court case involving her then-boyfriend, Lewis Burton, and accusations of assault.
With many paying tribute to the presenter today (Monday February 15), it’s a heartbreaking reminder of the free spirit and whirlwind personality that made so many fall in love with Caroline.
It’s also a painful reminder of a life lost, and a life yet to be lived.
Here’s Caroline in her own words, on her unfulfilled dreams and the things most important to her.
One year on from the death of Caroline Flack
Caroline Flack on… marriage
The star had forthright views on marriage.
During an honest interview with Kathy Burke on her Channel 4 show, All Woman, Caroline told her:
“If you’re in your 30s, or your 40s, 50s and you’re not settled down and you haven’t got kids and kind of, not wearing a twin set and pearls, they think that you’re unhappy in some way.
“I never had the desire. I never had that fairytale of ‘I want to meet my prince and I want to settle down.’
Read more: Caroline Flack death: Star’s best friend pays tribute on one-year anniversary
“So I suppose when it come to relationships I still always put work first.
“I’ve never got to that point yet, and I’m scared it’s gonna get too late, where I’ve wanted to go ‘right, maybe I need to slow down, think about having kids and maybe settling down’.
“But that’s never been wired into me. It’s really strange and I feel guilty for it sometimes. I feel like maybe I’m being selfish.
However, after her arrest in December 2019, a source told Heat magazine: “She says she’s innocent and she wants to fast-track her marriage plans as soon as the trial is over.”
Caroline on… having children
The same source said about the aftermath of the incident with Lewis Burton: “[Caroline] believes that marrying Lewis and having a child as soon as possible is the best way to get her life on track.”
However, up until that moment, the 40-year-old had always put her career first.
In her 2015 autobiography, Storm In A C Cup, she wondered what life could’ve been like if she hadn’t gone to stage school as a teen.
Most people don’t know what their life would have been like if they’d chosen another path. But I do.
She said: “Most people don’t know what their life would have been like if they’d chosen another path. But I do.
“A levels, not stage school. Learning to drive at 17 rather than 27. Having three gorgeous children.
“Being settled rather than putting my life into bin bags every few months, spending half the time weeping, half the time head over heels in love.”
She was also reported as saying: “My dream is to have a family, hopefully while still working.”
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Caroline on… relationships
Caroline had a string of short-lived but high-profile relationships with the likes of Prince Harry, Andrew Brady, Olly Murs and Harry Styles.
During her interview with Kathy Burke she said: “I am quite romantic.
“I love the idea of love and I love falling in love.
“The falling in love bit is quite addictive, isn’t it. That first romantic feeling. And then maybe I’ve just never been very good at the keeping going bit.”
However, back in 2017, she told Cosmopolitan magazine: “I’ve actually only just started dating again, because I did a year-long relationship detox, which I started at the end of 2015.
“Since my twenties, I had moved from one relationship to the next. Never had I given myself time to heal. Something had to change.
“Essentially, I put myself into relationship rehab.”
Caroline on… her career
After leaving Love Island, reports claimed that she was considering a switch in career.
A source told the Daily Mail that she had been writing a self-help book.
“She wants it to be more than just a story about her [and] wants to talk about the problems she’s encountered and how she’s overcome them,” the source said.
“[Caroline] hopes to be able to help others who may be going through similar difficulties.”
Read more: Caroline Flack timeline to tragedy: How did she die? Why was she arrested?
A report in Closer magazine claimed that Caroline was planning “major life changes” amid the fallout from the court case.
Sadly, we’ll never know what the next phase of Caroline’s career might have looked like.
As Caroline herself said: “There’s so much pressure to be at a certain level in your job and at a certain place in your life, but if everyone was doing things at the same time, then life would be so boring.
“Everyone reaches different stages at different times.”
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