As far as holiday family selfies go, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Beautiful young mother and influencer Lottie Tomlinson and her fiancé Lewis Burton, with their cherubic son, Lucky, in their arms, take to Instagram to wish their millions of followers a Happy New Year.
“Our last child was 3 years old,” Lewis writes, referring to the imminent arrival of his second child, a girl, due in a few weeks.
The post, which was shared by both Lewis and Lottie, generated thousands of comments from well-wishers showering them with praise.
One person who did not join in the congratulatory messages was Christine Flack, the mother of TV presenter Caroline, who took her own life five years ago next month.
The much-loved 40-year-old had had a turbulent relationship with Lewis, a model and former professional tennis player, who was 13 years her junior.
It was this relationship, Caroline’s mother openly declared on social media, that “ended her life.”
In fact, it was an explosive late-night fight between the two in 2019, after Caroline was said to have found text messages from another woman on his phone, leading her to hit him with a lamp, be accused of assault and ultimately resulted in his mental downward spiral and suicide on February 15, 2020.
Caroline Flack had a turbulent relationship with Lewis Burton, a model and former professional tennis player, who was 13 years her junior.
It was this relationship, Caroline’s mother Christine openly declared on social media, that “ended her life.”
It’s understandable, therefore, that Christine found it so difficult to accept Lewis’ new romance – the couple went public six months after Caroline’s death when they were spotted on holiday in Ibiza.
It’s also understandable that Christine has long questioned whether the messages Caroline found on Lewis’ phone that night could have been from Lottie.
Now Lottie, the younger sister of One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson and one of the UK’s most sought-after influencers, with more than four million followers on Instagram, has spoken for the first time about the defamatory suggestion to the Mail.
Referring to text messages Caroline is said to have found on Lewis’ phone that night, her agent said: “It’s not true at all, they had never even met before at the time of the incident.” I hope this clears up that rumor.’
Today, Lottie, 27, and Lewis, 33, live together in an £800,000 five-bedroom, three-bathroom luxury home in Kent, which they are renovating in the style of a Los Angeles mansion.
The property, which both Lottie and Lewis regularly post about on social media, even has its own Instagram account.
As one of Caroline’s friends tells me: ‘It must be devastating for Christine, she has lost her daughter and now Lewis has become a kind of influencer with his girlfriend, he lives in apparent happiness and is about to become a father by second time.
Caroline had been fired from her job as a presenter on the dating show Love Island before her death on 15 February 2020.
“He’s been able to move on with his life and find happiness, Caroline hasn’t and it’s heartbreaking. No one expected Lewis not to find love again, of course he had the right to do so, but it all happened so quickly.
However, a friend of the couple comes to Lottie’s defense to explain that she deserves happiness after the tragic death of her mother, Johanna Deakin, who died of cancer in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, her younger sister Felicite died because of an accident. drug overdose. Felicitie was only 18 years old and had been struggling with depression after the loss of her mother.
It’s been almost five years since Caroline’s tragic death and, as the Mail revealed last month, her mother is making a second documentary about her suicide, this time for streaming giant Disney+.
The show, which will premiere in a matter of months, will see Christine determined to discover the truth about Caroline’s final hours and also whether her death could have been prevented.
In a statement yesterday, she said: “I still have many questions about what happened to Caroline in her final months, and it is something I feel deeply compelled to explore, although I know it will be a challenge.” “I am pleased to be working with the team at Curious Films once again, hoping to bring clarity and understanding to Carrie’s story, not only for her, but for everyone who cares about her.”
There are plenty of targets, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and ITV, who are said to have a “very low opinion” of Christine for sacking her daughter from her beloved job as presenter of dating show Love Island.
Caroline committed suicide after learning that her criminal trial for assaulting Lewis was going ahead, after she was initially told she would only receive a caution.
Caroline feared body camera footage taken by police on the night the incident occurred would be played in court. In a confession to a friend, he said he would “rather die” than play the recordings in a public place.
Lewis was first seen with influencer Lottie Tomlinson six months after Caroline’s death.
The couple, pictured in 2023, have a son named Lucky and are awaiting the arrival of their daughter.
Earlier this year, Christine revealed that the Independent Office for Police Conduct urged the Metropolitan Police to reopen its investigation into the case against Caroline.
The watchdog recommended interviewing an officer who was present at the time of Caroline’s arrest. He was said to have been involved in the move to overturn the CPS’s decision to issue him a caution.
After the incident, Lewis refused to make a statement to the police, hoping that this would lead to the police dropping the charges, but they went ahead anyway. This decision by the police left Caroline “in pieces”, according to her friends.
He feared losing his job, his dignity and the love of his life. She was cared for by her friends Louise Teasdale and Mollie Grosberg, who rushed to her side after a suicide attempt the day before her death.
Louise was one of Caroline’s best friends and the pair regularly partied together. And it was through Louise that Lewis met Lottie: Louise became friends with Louis Tomlinson through her work as One Direction’s stylist in their heyday.
It is an intimate friendship that endures today; another thing Christine finds very uncomfortable.
“Christine could be forgiven for thinking Caroline’s friends might have left Lewis adrift,” a former friend of the TV presenter tells me. ‘But that’s not the case and it’s difficult for her.
“While no one would try to argue that Caroline (wasn’t) an easy person to deal with at times, it has been another part of Caroline’s death that has been difficult for Christine.
‘Lewis wasn’t always so kind to Caroline and there has been a lot of talk about her giving him money for reasons people don’t know for sure.
‘Christine and Louise are no longer close and the fact that she does not abandon Lewis is believed to be a contributing factor to this. Christine believes that if it hadn’t been for Caroline dating Lewis, she might be here today.
Others point out that Louise “did a lot” for Caroline and was completely devastated by her death, something she believes she will never get over.
“Caroline’s death was a tragedy,” said a source close to Louise, who is now dating former Newcastle United and England footballer Andy Carroll.
‘All I wanted was for Caroline to get better and get over what was such a terrible time. She is still completely devastated by his death to this day, but she has known Lottie since she was a teenager.
‘Caroline’s friends are simply trying to get on with their lives after the most terrible thing happened. “It’s horrible and heartbreaking for them too.”