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Caroline Flack can be seen breaking down in tears saying ‘they’ve put me in a cell’ in an unseen video featured in a new Disney+ documentary about her. The former host of Love Island and The X Factor took her own life at the age of 40 in February 2020. Caroline, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2014 and also hosted I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! Now, was arrested in December 2019. The TV star received a caution following an incident with her boyfriend Lewis Burton, but this was overturned after an appeal from the Metropolitan Police and she was instead charged with assault by beating. In August 2020, a coroner ruled Caroline took her own life after learning prosecutors were going to press ahead with the assault charge in relation to an incident where she hit her boyfriend with her phone while he slept, because of concerns he had been cheating on her. Released on Monday (November 10) was Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth, a two-part series on Disney+ where her mother, Christine Flack investigates the assault charge the star faced and the resulting media storm. The documentary sees Christine delving into material from her daughter's phones, with voice notes and texts from Caroline shedding light on the star’s inner turmoil. In a video taken after her arrest, Caroline said: “I’m doing this because I want to remember what I went through and what my family went through, what my boyfriend went through, what his family went through. “It’s three days after I’ve been arrested for having a fight with my boyfriend. I’ve always co-operated with the police since they arrived. I was put in a cell. “I was promised that I was anonymous and this wouldn’t be going further, and it was a really private situation.” Caroline, who was crying in the video, continued: “Five minutes after I left the station, they’ve gone to the press, all the details, everything. “Since then, I lost my job, the job I’ve worked all my life on. I’m living in a hotel. I’m receiving so much abuse… It was a fight. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, the only person I ever hurt is myself.” Other texts pop on screen to show the correspondence she was having with friends and family, including a message that said: “I’m having a big panic attack. I think I’m going to prison.” Another text stated: “I literally cannot be papped it’s ruining my life.” Giving an insight into Caroline's response following her arrest, her friend Mollie Grosberg said: “The minute that he (Burton) called the police, she just thought, ‘I am done. My career is over. My boyfriend’s gone. I might as well be dead’.” Meanwhile, Christine reveals in the documentary that her daughter had always suffered from mental health problems and says that one doctor told her she had bipolar disorder. “At the time, they used to call it manic depression. She didn’t want to be told that. She didn’t want a label. She hated having this mental health problem, and it was always hushed up. If anyone mentioned it, it was the worst thing you could do,” she said. Caroline's former agent Louisa Booth claims in the programme that a psychiatric report to the Crown Prosecution Service saying she was not mentally fit enough to go through with the court case was dismissed. “We had professional analysis and that was ignored. We were so taken aback, actually, that they dismissed the report from the psychiatrist,” she said. In 2023, Chirstine rejected the Metropolitan Police’s apology for not keeping a record about why they charged her daughter with assault. A Met spokesperson said: “Caroline Flack’s tragic death had a profound impact on many, not least her family and friends who continue to come to terms with their loss. The Commissioner has previously written to Caroline’s mother to offer his condolences on behalf of the Met. We recognise how terribly difficult the past five years must have been. “It is entirely understandable that those closest to Caroline have questions about the events leading up to her death, including the police investigation. We have engaged openly with those questions through independent reviews and an inquest, which subjected our actions to significant scrutiny. “These processes did not identify misconduct for any officer, including in relation to the decision to appeal the CPS outcome. Operational decisions were made in accordance with the legal framework and guidance in place at the time. The Metropolitan Police Service fully supports the officers involved in the decisions made. Organisational learning was identified, around record-keeping and documentation of decision-making. “These have since been addressed through policy reinforcement and training. The Independent Office for Police Conduct asked the Met to apologise to Caroline’s family for the absence of a recorded rationale in the CPS appeal process. We have done so and acknowledged the impact this has had on them. We remain committed to learning and improving, and our thoughts and sympathies continue to be with Caroline’s family and friends.” A CPS spokesperson added: “Caroline’s death was a tragedy and our thoughts remain with her friends and family as they continue to come to terms with their loss and the circumstances that led to her death. “All decisions in this case were made on the basis of the medical opinion available to us at the time. A person’s celebrity status never influences whether a case is taken forward. We are satisfied that the prosecution was correctly brought.” Both episodes of Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth are now available on Disney
