Caroline Flack

Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television presenter and actress.

Flack grew up in Norfolk and took an interest in dancing and theatre while at school.

Caroline Louise Flack was born at Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, London on 9 November 1979, the youngest of the four children of Coca-Cola sales representative Ian Flack and his wife, Christine ( Callis).

Flack and her twin sister, Jody, were born when their sister Elizabeth was 10 and their brother Paul was 8.

Jody, the elder twin by six minutes, was originally supposed to be called Caroline, but her mother decided the name did not suit her.

Shortly after her birth, her father was promoted to the company's management, and the family moved to Thetford, Norfolk.

When Flack was seven, they moved again to nearby East Wretham.

Flack attended Great Hockham Primary School and Wayland High School in Watton, Norfolk.

She developed an interest in dancing and performed in village pantomimes while at school.

As a pupil, she was given medical treatment for being underweight.

Between 1996 and 1999 she studied dancing and musical theatre at the Bodywork Company in Cambridge.

She began her professional career as an actress, starring in the comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta! (2002), and went on to present various ITV2 shows including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW! (2009–2010) and The Xtra Factor (2011–2013).

In 2002, Flack gained her break on television playing Michael Jackson's pet chimpanzee Bubbles on the sketch show Bo' Selecta!.

She then presented the International Pepsi Chart Show, and Fash FC which followed footballer John Fashanu managing an amateur team.

In 2005 she had a regular segment on the video games show When Games Attack.

From 2006 to 2008 she co-presented the Saturday morning show TMi with Sam & Mark, which aired on BBC Two and the CBBC Channel.

Subsequently, she hosted the CBBC show Escape from Scorpion Island together with Reggie Yates.

Flack hosted the CBBC coverage of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in March 2007, commenting on the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with Paddy O'Connell.

She also hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth during the 2008 series.

The Daily Mirror journalist Rob Leigh commented that "her sharp delivery makes her the best presenter they've had on this series".

She was also reported to be replacing Dermot O'Leary on Big Brother's Little Brother.

In 2008, Flack co-presented the reboot of Gladiators, staying for two series.

In July 2009, she was a substitute presenter on the BBC's Sunday show Something for the Weekend, while Amanda Hamilton was on maternity leave.

In the same year Flack began hosting the ITV2 reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here NOW!.

She also won BBC Three's Dancing on Wheels with disabled partner James O'Shea and the pair represented Great Britain in the 2009 Wheelchair Dancing European Championships in Tel Aviv, finishing 16th in their category.

On 16 February 2010, she presented backstage at the 2010 Brit Awards on ITV2.

In November, she returned to host I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here Now! on ITV2.

She also modelled for the magazine Maxim in the same year.

In 2011 Flack was a team captain on the ITV2 game show Minute to Win It.

That year she and Olly Murs presented the eighth series of The Xtra Factor, replacing Konnie Huq.

Flack and Murs both returned for the ninth series.

Flack returned for the tenth series in 2013, while Murs was replaced by Matt Richardson.

Both left at the end of the series.

In 2014, Flack won the twelfth series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and was praised for achieving a record perfect score in the final.

Flack hosted the ITV2 show Viral Tap in 2014.

In December 2014 she reunited with Murs to host a Christmas Day and New Year's Eve programme on British radio station Magic Radio.

Flack was announced as a contestant on the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, partnered with Pasha Kovalev.

The couple went on to win the series that December.

The following year, she began presenting The X Factor, replacing the long-standing presenter Dermot O'Leary, and Love Island, hosting until her resignation in December 2019 after being arrested for assault allegations.

On 15 February 2020, aged 40, Flack was found dead at her home in North East London; in August, a coroner's inquest recorded a verdict of suicide.