Tragic Caroline Flack’s final days as friends fought to keep beloved star alive

Caroline Flack described the time after her domestic violence arrest and temporary departure from Love Island as the 'worst time of my life'.

But throughout the 40 year old's turmoil, her beloved best friends maintained a constant vigil, enveloping the star in love and 'refusing to leave her side' as she battled mental health issues.

From girls' nights in and holidays to Barcelona and trips to the climbing wall, of her close-knit group, one friend told the Mirror: "They were trying to keep her spirits up but she was going deeper into her depression.

"In the last few weeks she was with a lot of her friends and rarely alone."

The friend added that Caroline had been on anti-depressants ahead of her impending trial for allegedly assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton last December - allegations both he and she denied.

And in the week before her tragic suicide on February 15, friend Sam Campbell revealed Caroline had joined her on a work trip to Barcelona, where she described her as 'calm and hopeful but so weak'.

"We went on a tuk tuk, walked, saw the sights, went to a house of curiosities and got our caricature done. We’d go for dinner then watch Ab Fab till we fell asleep," she wrote on Instagram alongside fun-filled shots of their trip.

"She was calm and hopeful, but so weak. I’m so so glad she came and we got to have one more adventure together and a few last laughs. I miss you so much already xxxxx"

BBC children's presenter Kevin Adams - who had known Caroline for 22 years - said she'd been 'going through a lot', but that there was ultimately 'nothing anyone could do'.

He told Sky News: "Loads of things have been getting on top and they seemed to be stacking.

"Having spoken to her recently, I knew they were stacking and there was nothing anyone could do because she had to deal with them herself."

The day before her death, she met close friend Simon Carroll for a walk around a cemetery near her home in Stoke Newington, east London, where he described the frail star as being exhausted and fearful.

In a tribute to Caroline, he wrote: "Thank you for finding the strength to meet me on Friday morning, we walked around Stoke Newington Cemetery (she bloody loved that cemetery).

"We held hands and we spoke about your future. You asked me if I would speak on your behalf about the last few months and we talked about the road that lead you to here.

"You were so tired toward the end, but still had more energy than most. You were so scared of having to go back to court and the circus that would have come with it. But you laughed baby... you laughed."

But despite signs of improvement, everything changed that afternoon when the CPS informed Caroline that she would have to stand trial over the alleged early-morning altercation with Lewis.

Lewis had begged authorities to drop the court case and made it clear he did not support the prosecution, while Caroline's management team described her as 'vulnerable' and criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for pushing ahead with the case.

According to reports, Caroline was terrified of police body cam footage from the night of her arrest being shown in court which is said to have shown her in a state of serious distress.

Banned from having any contact with Lewis, her best friends Lou Teasdale and Molly Grosberg swept in to look after the fragile presenter that night.

Molly took a picture, though to be the last, of Caroline fiddling with the television in a red nightie, captioning it, “Our funny Valentine bought us cookies and oat milk this year."

Her ex, Danny Cipriani, said she phoned him and text him, anxious that she would have to plead guilty.

And after spotting a concerning post on Caroline's personal Instagram, good friend and glamour model Nicola McLean messaged the star and found she "wasn't in a great way."

"She was just sad. She really was. She just wanted to be with Lewis. She wanted the charges dropped. She felt like it was unfair," Nicola told talkRadio.

"She would say, 'I'll plead guilty so this all goes away', but she did not want to plead guilty because she did not think she was, and neither do I."

That night, paramedics were called to Caroline's home at around 10:30pm after she took an overdose. A clinical assessment was carried out but Caroline refused to go to hospital, promising instead to see her GP first thing.

The next morning, angry that her friends had called 999, she asked them to leave. Once alone, she took her own life. Her body was identified by her twin sister Jody, who had been due to visit her sibling later that day.

In the days after her death, Caroline's devastated mum Christine paid tribute to the friends who had tried to valiantly to protect her daughter.

"Carrie was surrounded by love and friends but this was just too much for her," she told the Eastern Daily Press.

"Her friends Molly, Lou, Sam, Liam and Simon need a very special mention and lots of thanks for trying so hard to keep her safe.

"Jody her twin sister was there her whole life for her but this time nothing could take away the hurt of such injustice."

She also shared an Instagram post Caroline had written but had been advised not to publish, explaining that her child "so wanted to have her little voice heard."

In it, Caroline said she'd been suffering from declining mental health for some time, but denied she had assaulted Lewis, insisting what had happened was an 'accident'.

She wrote: "I've been pressing the snooze button on many stresses in my life - for my whole life.

"I have always taken responsibility for what happened that night. Even on the night. But the truth is... It was an accident.

"I've been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time.

"But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident. The blood that someone SOLD to a newspaper was MY blood and that was something very sad and very personal."

And inquest into the star's death concluded today that she died by suicide after "an exacerbation of fluctuating ill health and distress" caused by the impending trial.

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