Caroline Flack’s final months and the heartbreaking days leading up to her death are explored in powerful detail in Disney+’s new documentary, Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth.
The explosive two-part series lays bare what really happened in the lead-up to the TV presenter’s tragic death, giving voice to those who knew her best – including her mother, Christine. The documentary also revisits the events surrounding the infamous bedroom photo and the much-discussed lamp, revealing the truth behind the headlines.
Alongside Christine, viewers hear from Caroline’s closest friends, her agent, and the legal professionals who were directly involved in her case.
Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth is a deeply emotional watch that challenges the public’s long-held assumptions about the final chapter of her life. Here are six of the most devastating revelations from the Disney+ documentary.
*** Warning – story contains reference to a suicide attempt ***
1. Caroline Flack: The truth surrounding the lamp
Caroline died on February 15, 2020, after taking her own life. Her death followed widespread news coverage about an incident that took place between herself and her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, in December 2019.
It was claimed in a court hearing that Caroline had hit Lewis over the head with a ‘lamp’ as he slept following a boozy night out. But in Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth, it is revealed she did not.
Caroline’s mum, Christine, recalls: “[Caroline] said Lewis fell asleep but then his phone went. She picked it up and there were texts from another woman. She hit him with his phone, he stood up and his head was bleeding.”
Later in the show, Christine reads out a court transcript. She say the Crown prosecutor said: “Lewis Burton said he’d been asleep and had been hit over the head by Caroline with a lamp.”
Christine continues: “But then looking at the report on the night by the police it says, ‘It’s unclear exactly what object had been used to assault Mr Burton. He initially stated to officers he assumed it was a desk fan or a lamp. Mr Burton stated, ‘I don’t know what it was’.”
‘No compelling evidence’
In a moment that makes her elder daughter, Elizabeth, gasp, Christine says: “The police report says, ‘Miss Flack’s phone has been seized as it has a significant amount of blood on it and a crack on one of the corners, suggesting this may have been the weapon’.”
Caroline’s solicitor, Paul Morris, is also in the documentary. He tells the cameras: “There was no compelling or direct evidence that anyone had been hit with a lamp.
“During Caroline’s interview under caution, and Caroline’s position always was, that she had the phone in her hand. She went to rouse and wake him and the phone connected to him. It couldn’t have been more clear to anyone who read that.”
He added: “You would think the weapon would have been seized. The lamp is back sitting at the property, it was never examined.”
Even a social media statement from Lewis at the time says: “She did not hit me with a lamp.”
2. Caroline’s self harm
In the documentary, it is revealed Caroline harmed herself immediately after the incident in the flat.
Her friend, Mollie Grosberg, recalls: “She was screaming, ‘Please don’t call the police, if you call the police I’m done’. I didn’t know if he really meant to do that, but it was a very charged situation and they were absolutely wasted.
“The minute he called the police she thought, ‘I’m done. My career is over, my boyfriend is gone, I might as well be dead’.” Mollie says Caroline told her she had found some glass and cut her arms.
Christine explains how Caroline was taken to hospital. She had cut down to the muscle in her wrists and was told she might need plastic surgery.
“They took Lewis out and said he didn’t need anything at all,” she says. “But they said Caroline would need to go to hospital. Caroline spent 12 hours in hospital, being treated for injuries.”
Caroline was then taken to the police station and put in a cell.
3. Caroline’s first suicide attempt
It becomes tragically apparent that Caroline tried to end her own life very soon after. She was due at Magtistrates Court the next morning, charged with attacking Lewis. At the time, Caroline was hiding out in a hotel.
Mollie says: “She called a couple of us slurring and I knew then something was going on. We went over and she was completely out of it on the bed. She’d drunk the mini bar dry. She had taken whatever tablets she had there that had been prescribed to her.
“We were just freaking out. The next day was the hearing but I was just thinking, ‘She’s going to die’.”
Mollie and Caroline’s agent, Louise Booth, called a doctor for help.
Speaking about Caroline’s court appearance a few hours later, Louise says: “I just remember saying, ‘What is she going to wear, as nothing is clean?’ But should she be going, as she is really unwell.
“I am a mother and was thinking, ‘Am I doing the right thing here, would I let somebody do this to my daughter’.”
Caroline attended court. Photographs taken out show her looking pale and draw. Mollie says: “She was squeezing my hand so tight. We went in, saw her mum and broke down.”
4. Caroline Flack documentary: The bedroom photo
Shortly before Caroline’s death, a photograph emerged on the front of a tabloid newspaper. It was taken on the night of the incident between Caroline and Lewis.
The white sheet on the bed was covered in blood. But the blood had actually come from Caroline’s self-inflicted injuries – not Lewis’ head.
Louise tearfully recalls: “Caroline reacted terribly because of the embarrassment. This was her blood.”
Speaking about who leaked the photo, Mollie explains: “We were told at the beginning that it was actually a police officer but it wasn’t. Lewis admitted that he took that photo and sent it to one of his friends.”
A text sent from Caroline at the time flashes up in the Disney+ documentary, saying: “I don’t think I can cope with the shame of it all.”
To make matters worse, the bedroom photo had emerged after the prosecutor had previously told Caroline’s court hearing that the scene was something from a “horror movie”.
Remembering the court hearing, Mollie says: “That is when I knew, ‘Oh my God, this is going to go wrong’. Caroline turned around, looked at us, her face as as pale and as white as a ghost. She knew in that moment what had been said and that it couldn’t be unsaid.”
5. Life-long mental health battle
Caroline’s mum Christine explains in the documentary how her daughter had suffered with her mental health all her life. Tragically, it is something she had desperately hidden from the public and fans.
Christine says: “She had these problems already. It started as a small child, she had these highs and lows. As she got older, it got even worse. She had cut her arms before, she went through a spate of cutting her arms.
“I don’t think she wanted attention, because she had attention. I don’t think she liked herself.”
Christine also reveals Caroline had swallowed pills during an incident growing up and ending up in hospital. She added one “doctor said she had bipolar”.
She adds: “The whole way through her career, she suffered with mental health. If she had work to go to, it would make her come out of [a low period]. But this time, her job had gone. We were frightened because we knew what she was like.”
Read more: Caroline Flack’s mum plays heartbreaking voice notes and final texts in documentary
6. Caroline’s suicide note
It is revealed at the end of the documentary that Caroline had left a suicide note. The entire contents of the letter she wrote is not revealed but one extract is. Caroline had penned: “Please let this court case be dropped, and myself and Lewis find harmony.”
In heartbreaking scenes, Caroline’s loved ones recall the moment they discovered she was dead. Caroline’s twin sister, Jody, and her friends went to her house after growing concerned for her.
“The door was locked,” Christine says. “Well, Carrie just doesn’t do that. Her door would be open, they just knew something would be wrong.
“They got in and Jody found her. And yes, she couldn’t do anything. She tried but she couldn’t do anything. So she phoned me and when I got there, there was people milling about outside.” Her voice cracking, Christine adds: “I went into the room and went to touch her but the police wouldn’t let me.”
In one very shocking moment, Mollie also recalls how her mobile phone rang when she was in the flat. She says it was a journalist from the BBC asking to confirm if Caroline had died.
Mollie says: “I just threw my phone. I couldn’t believe I was standing with her body and someone was calling me to fact check the she was dead.”
Final word
Caroline Flack was just 40 years old when she died – a loss that continues to resonate deeply with fans and those who knew her best.
Following the release of the Disney+ documentary, The Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement saying: “All decisions in this case were made on the basis of medical opinion available to us at the time. A person’s celebrity status never influences whether a case is taken forward. We are satisfied that the prosecution was correctly brought.”
The Metropolitan Police also responded, with a spokesman confirming that the commissioner had previously written to Caroline’s mother, Christine, to express condolences. “While there was organisational learning for us on points of process, no misconduct has been identified,” the statement added.
Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth is available to stream on Disney+ now.
If you or anyone you know needs help dealing with mental health struggles, you can call the Samaritans free on 116 123, email them at [email protected], or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
Caroline Flack: Search For The Truth is available to stream now on Disney+
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