Caroline Flack: Nick Grimshaw condemns press intrusion into ‘vulnerable’ Love Island host
BBC Radio 1 host indicated that there is no ‘duty of care’ in some tabloid reporting
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Your support makes all the difference.Nick Grimshaw has condemned the press intrusion into the personal life of Caroline Flack prior to her death.
The Love Island presenter was found dead by suicide in January, weeks before she was due to stand trial accused of assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton. Burton had publicly not supported the prosecution.
“With Caroline, no one was reporting on facts,” Grimshaw told The Guardian. “There’s this constant need to dig things out about people. It felt really unnecessary. It felt relentless. It’s really dark. It’s not a funny thing to cover.”
He added: “Someone’s life was on the line here. And their relationship, and their family’s lives. I just thought there was no … We’re taught about duty of care at Radio 1. I just can’t imagine making light of something like that on the radio, so why would you write it down and print it?”
Grimshaw called Flack’s death “really hard to take”, remembering her as “funny, engaging and open – and also really vulnerable”.
“I think a lot of people, me included, saw her in themselves,” he continued. “And it was the most horrible, shocking news … She was going through a tough time. It could have been avoided.”
Girls creator and star Lena Dunham revealed in March that Flack’s death hit her “with a sickening power”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) also announced that it would not be investigating the Metropolitan Police over the presenter’s death, despite concerns raised by her loved ones over the handling of an assault charge.
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