ITV bosses say they are ‘deeply sad' about Caroline Flack’s death after Schofield probe
Dame Carolyn McCall faced questions this morning over Caroline Flack's death as she appeared at a parliamentary committee session.
ITV bosses answer questions Caroline Flack
As Dame Carolyn McCall gave evidence before a parliamentary committee this morning regarding the current scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield and ITV, the chief executive shared her condolences with the family of Caroline Flack.
When faced with the question: “What would you say to the family of Caroline Flack who stated that ITV used its talent like commodities?”, Dame Carolyn touched on the impact the presenter’s tragic death had on the network and her colleagues.
She shared: “First thing we’d say is that we genuinely feel deeply, deeply sad about what happened to Caroline.
“People knew her well at ITV. I’ve spoken to a lot of people at ITV that worked with her and really liked working with her.”
However, the ITV boss disputed the claims saying: “I would say we don’t ever feel, we never feel we treat anybody like a commodity.
READ MORE: How to watch Love IslandDame Carolyn then handed the question to Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of television, who argued: “I think with Carolyn, in that instance because of things going on in her private life, she said I don’t think I’m fit to do the next series of Love Island and we said we understand that.
“But we made it very clear that she could come back when she wanted to. We were offering her work and all the rest of it so nobody would agree she was used as a commodity.”
The committee then pointed out that an ITV show has been linked to four suicides and is still running, to which Dame Carolyn argued: “I think that’s a gross misrepresentation of the show.
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“Caroline was not on the show and the reason that she tragically took her life, she was going through some extremely public things in her private life, so I don’t think you can correlate and say it’s because she’s on the show.”
While the businesswoman declared that the deaths are “a deeply tragic thing”, the network has “thought about it huge amounts” and have received professional advice in the aftermath.
She added: “I don’t think any of you can even understand how deeply distressing something like that would be for people who work at ITV.
“The generally accepted professional opinion is that the causes of these types of tragedies are always complex and multiple.”
Caroline tragically took her own life in February 2020 at the age of 40.
She said: "I know it’s a lovely job and they earn money. But also the television stations earn money from them… they’re not commodities, they’re people.
“I hate the thought that Phillip and this young man are going through such an awful time."
If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year.
Alternatively, you can find more information on the Samaritans website here.
https://www.samaritans.org/