Montana Brown warns Caroline Flack 'won't be the last' person from Love Island to die by suicide

‘I just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else,’ says former Love Island contestant

Olivia Petter
Friday 28 February 2020 04:19 EST
Comments
(Rex Features)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Montana Brown has said that Caroline Flack “won’t be the last person” connected to Love Island to take their own life.

The former contestant on the ITV2 reality show explained that all of the co-stars she is friends with suffer from anxiety or depression.

Earlier this month, Flack was found dead in her apartment aged 40.

Flack’s death followed that of two former Love Island stars Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon in 2019 and 2018, respectively. Both also died by suicide.

“Caroline was at Mike’s funeral literally not even a year ago,” Brown told MailOnline.

“She was so shocked by that and now look what’s happened. It’s heart-breaking.”

The 21-year-old, who was close friends with Thalassitis, continued: “I just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“But I don’t think Caroline will be the last person to do this if I’m honest and that is what’s really sad.”

Brown went on to explain that all of the people she is friends with from the show suffer from mental health problems.

“Every single person that I’m friends with from Love Island suffers from anxiety or depression or something to do with mental health. It’s actually terrifying,” she said.

”For me, and I think I can speak for a lot of Love Islanders, you feel like “Oh my God, who else is unhappy?” I need to speak to everyone.

“You feel this pressure because you don’t want your friends to be unhappy, what can I do?”

Brown added: “It’s helplessness because you know people are suffering and that’s a categorical fact.”

She added that social media is to blame rather than Love Island itself. “I think it’s not necessarily to do with the show – there are really amazing positives that come out of the show – it’s more the social media side of things.

“People are so judgmental. You have to live your mistakes publicly every time you make a mistake.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, you can reach out for confidential support at Samaritans by calling 116 123 or visiting their website

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in