Olly Murs has revealed he tried to meet up with Caroline Flack just months before she died, but she sadly “never turned up”.
The former Love Island host was found dead at her home in London on February 15, 2020 at the age of 40, after tragically taking her own life.
Olly and Caroline became close friends after they presented The Xtra Factor together from 2011 until 2012, before going on to present The X Factor in 2015.
Speaking on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, Olly said he always maintained a close friendship with Caroline after The X Factor – but they struggled to find time to hang out due to their busy schedules.
He said: “Caz was always the life and soul of the party. She’s dancing, she’s getting the drinks, she’s having fun.”
Meanwhile, Olly said he was busy “being a pop star and travelling around and doing all sorts of these different things” so when he was free he would “just go to bed and relax and sleep.”
But in 2019, the old pals finally planned for Caroline to come for lunch at his place in Essex for their first proper catch up “in years”.
The singer had just undergone knee surgery, and said: “I got a chef to come in. I couldn’t cook because I couldn’t move. And she never turned up.”
Olly said he thought it was “really weird” at the time, until Caroline replied several hours later saying: “I’m really sorry Olly, something came up. I’m not feeling great. I’m really sorry. We’ll do it another time.”
The 38-year-old then recalled his girlfriend Amelia showing him an article revealing Caroline had been out at an event the night before.
Olly joked: “So me knowing Caz, she’s woken up with a massive hangover. Probably didn’t get up till midday, and she’s probably still drunk.”
“It’s a shame really, because I never got a chance to see Caz before she took her life,” he continued.
“It would have been lovely to have had a moment to chat or, you know, just talk. We didn’t see each other for quite a few years. That was the last time we tried to meet up.”
Not long after that, the TV presenter hit headlines after she was accused of assaulting her then-boyfriend Lewis Burton.
Olly said he sent her a message of support at the time, saying: “I texted her and I said you know, like, ‘I’m not reading the news, Caz like, you know, I mean, I’m on your side, I’m here if you need me.'”
“She was like, ‘Thanks Ols. I appreciate it.’ And then we didn’t speak after that, which was a shame.”
“But yeah, it would have been lovely. I always think back to that moment, I just wish she’d have come out to Essex that day,” he added.
Caroline took her own life just hours after she was told she would face trial for the alleged assault of her then-boyfriend Lewis Burton – despite the fact that he didn’t want to press charges.
Following her death, the presenter’s management slammed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for pursuing the “show trial”, knowing how vulnerable she was.
After Caroline’s death, her family released an unpublished Instagram post the presenter wanted to share before the died.
In the heartfelt statement, the TV star denied being a “domestic abuser”, and said the incident between her and Lewis was simply an “accident”.
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