Laura Whitmore reveals Caroline Flack’s death ‘scared’ her

Laura Whitmore has opened up about coming to terms with the death of her close friend and fellow presenter Caroline Flack and admits it ‘scared’ her.

Caroline, who Laura had taken over from to host Love Island for its winter series, died by suicide, aged 40, in February.

Laura had been among the first to pay tribute to the star following the news and speaking in the June issue of Cosmopolitan, she insists that it’ll ‘never be right’ that Caroline took her life.

‘It’ll never be ok and it’ll never be right,’ Laura said, admitting that hearing news of Caroline’s death had ‘frightened’ her.

She explained: ‘It did scare me. She was so strong-willed and feisty and I remember thinking, “God, I wish I could be as strong as her.”

‘I felt like if people said things, it wouldn’t bother her. But obviously it did, because everyone is human. I don’t want to speculate reasons because nobody will ever know… but it did frighten me.’

Laura added that she hopes everyone can ‘learn from’ Caroline’s death and remember that what you say can ‘hurt people’s feelings’.

She recalled interviewing Britney Spears, who suffered a 14-month public breakdown back in 2007, and said: ‘I remember thinking, “You’re just this vulnerable girl who got a lot of fame very fast.”‘

Laura had spoken about Caroline and remembered her, while calling for people to be kinder, during an emotional appearance on her radio show that aired the morning after news of Caroline’s death broke.

Laura said: ‘Anyone who knew Caroline knew she was vivacious, loving and had a passion for life, which is why none of this makes sense.

‘Caroline loved music, she loved to dance. We shared many a dancefloor; gigs, festivals. I met her just shy of 10 years ago at V Festival and then we became friends.

‘She was bubbly and for such a small stature, commanded a room. She loved to laugh and had the most infectious chuckle.’