Caroline Flack's career from The X Factor to Love Island as she dies aged 40
Caroline Flack has died at the age of 40, following nearly 20 years in the TV business.
The former Love Island host died on Saturday afternoon, according to reports.
Caroline was one of the biggest and most popular TV presenters in the UK, ever since she burst onto the scene in 2002.
The star got her big break in Leigh Francis’s sketch series Bo Selecta, before moving on to present on Channel 4 – hosting The Games: Live at Trackside on E4 with Justin Lee Collins.
In children’s TV, she co-presented the Saturday morning show TMi with Sam and Mark, as well as the CBBC series Escape from Scorpion Island with Reggie Yates.
She then worked on Big Brother’s Big Mouth, before she replaced Kirsty Gallacher as the co-host as Gladiators in 2009.
However, it was her hosting gig on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! NOW! that brought Caroline to brand new audiences.
She hosted alongside Joe Swash in 2009 and 2010 before she left, being replaced by her eventual Love Island successor Laura Whitmore.
In 2011, she stayed in the ITV family when she landed the hosting job of The Xtra Factor on ITV2, alongside Olly Murs and replacing Konnie Huq.
She stayed on in the job until 2014, when she was replaced by Sarah Jane Crawford.
The following year, it was announced that following Dermot O’Leary’s shock departure from The X Factor, Caroline and Olly would become hosts of the main show.
However, the position was ill-fated, with the pair’s hosting skills criticised heavily, and Dermot returned the following year.
But Caroline had already landed the job of her career.
In 2015, she began hosting the ITV2 series Love Island, which saw her arriving at the villa to monitor recouplings and announce bombshells to the islanders.
A sleeper hit, the show didn’t set ratings alight in series one or two – but by series three, it had become a national phenomenon, achieving an average of 2.2 million viewers as fans tuned in to watch Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay win over the nation.
The fifth series, Caroline’s last, achieved an average of 5.6 million viewers, and in 2018, the show won a Bafta for best reality and constructed factual.
Caroline stayed on as main host for five series, until series six – the show’s first winter edition this year – when she stood down, after being arrested and charged with assault.
She was replaced by her friend and fellow ITV2 colleague Laura Whitmore.
In 2019, it was announced that Caroline would be hosting a Channel 4 series called The Surjury, where people would put forward their arguments for getting cosmetic procedures to a jury.
Following criticism of the show’s premise, Flack defended the show, replying to a critique from Jameela Jamil: ‘Have you managed to see a copy before me ? Please forward .. am desperate to see..’
It is unclear if The Surjury will air.
Outside presenting, Caroline gained a huge following when she competed on the 2014 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The star was partnered with Pasha Kovalev, and fast became favourites with their high scoring routines – with their Charleston to Istanbul becoming one of the most iconic dances in Strictly history.
In the final, the couple earned three tens for their Charleston, cha cha cha and a showdance set to Robbie Williams’ Angels, and beat Frankie Bridge and Simon Webbe to be crowned Strictly champions.
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