Caroline Flack’s family publish previously unreleased statement by the star

"The truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment."

The family of Caroline Flack have published a previously unreleased Instagram post composed by the star in the weeks before her death. Flack died by suicide over the weekend. The statement was given to the Eastern Daily Press, who have also reported that Flack's advisors had told her not to share it at the time. The statement addresses the late Love Island host's trial for domestic abuse, and says "I've been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time". Flack also apologises to her family and friends in the statement, and says that she is only interested in getting her life back. The statement can be read in its entirety below:

"For a lot of people, being arrested for common assault is an extreme way to have some sort of spiritual awakening but for me it's become the normal.

"I've been pressing the snooze button on many stresses in my life - for my whole life. I've accepted shame and toxic opinions on my life for over 10 years and yet told myself it's all part of my job. No complaining.

"The problem with brushing things under the carpet is .... they are still there and one day someone is going to lift that carpet up and all you are going to feel is shame and embarrassment.

"On December the 12th 2019 I was arrested for common assault on my boyfriend ...Within 24 hours my whole world and future was swept from under my feet and all the walls that I had taken so long to build around me, collapsed. I am suddenly on a different kind of stage and everyone is watching it happen.

"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.

"The reason I am talking today is because my family can't take anymore. I've lost my job. My home. My ability to speak. And the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment.

"I can't spend every day hidden away being told not to say or speak to anyone.

"I'm so sorry to my family for what I have brought upon them and for what my friends have had to go through.

"I'm not thinking about 'how I'm going to get my career back.' I'm thinking about how I'm going to get mine and my family's life back.