OHMYGOSSIP — Laura Whitmore says lockdown helped her to grieve for her late friend Caroline Flack.
The ‘Love Island’ presenter admitted she “didn’t deal” with her pal’s death at the time in February this year, because she was in the middle of presenting the winter series of the ITV2 dating show, after taking over the position from Caroline just months before the star passed away.
Laura said: “I feel it’s OK to grieve privately if you choose to.
“I found it really difficult because it was so public, that’s why lockdown was really great, if I’m honest, because I had that privacy and I had that time.
“At the time, I didn’t deal with it because I probably wasn’t in a position where I could because I was still doing ‘Love Island’.”
The 35-year-old star used to think it was Caroline – who took her own life in February, aged 40 – messaging her on social media when she was tagged into posts by fan accounts of the late star, and admitted it is “only now it’s hit me that’s not her”.
She said: “I’ve never lost someone in my group of friends who is so young.
“It’s hard, I’d get tagged in something by a fan account of Caroline and I’ll think it’s Caroline and it’s only now it’s hit me that’s not her.”
Despite admitting the coronavirus pandemic lockdown was a time to grieve for her pal and was useful because her body “needed a break badly when March came”, Laura has experienced family tragedy amid the global health crisis after her cousin passed away of Covid-19.
Speaking on the Women’s Health ‘Going for Goal’ podcast, she added: “My cousin passed away of coronavirus during lockdown, he was only in his 40s in Ireland.”
In April, Laura said Caroline appreciated her stepping in to host ‘Love Island’, after she stood down after being charged with assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton.
She said: “People would say, ‘I can’t believe you’ve stolen someone’s job.’
“It’s so surreal, [I’m] still navigating through it…
“I’ve never told anyone this, but one of the last things she told me is that, ‘This is probably good that it’s happened this way as I have a lot of things I need to deal with and work through.’ ”

Source: VacationHunter.Online
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