The Irish TV presenter shared a photo of the pair together, along with a series of screenshots of their WhatsApp conversation, in which she told Flack she had been offered the Love Island presenting role.
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In the messages, Flack said it was “perfect” that Whitmore would be doing the show alongside her husband Iain Stirling, who narrates the series, and followed up the message with a series of love hearts.
Flack hosted the reality dating show between 2015 and 2019. Whitmore took over in 2020. Maya Jama stepped into the role in 2023.
In her Instagram post, Whitmore, 39, said: “I got a new phone this month and as I was trying to download WhatsApp messages from my cloud loads of old messages came up.
“Ones I thought I lost a few years ago and no longer had. It really hit me hard.
“Looking at messages I’ve never publicly shared as they were private messages. Media outlets wrote a lot far from the actual truth.
“I think they show a side to Caroline which is nice to remember. Hence I’m sharing now.”
Whitmore said she had met Flack when she took over hosting duties for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! NOW!.
“She was as supportive of me doing that role back then as she was when she supported me doing Love Island in 2020,” she said.
“Both were great shows with hundreds of people working on them and relying on the show going ahead.
“I will always be so thankful of the last messages between me and Caroline.”
She continued: “Every time I’ve been asked to speak about the situation or be part of a documentary I decline.
“I’ve already said all I can say on the tragedy and don’t want words to be misconstrued and need to look after my own mental health.
“This was the last correspondence I ever had with her.”
“The last message from her to me were love hearts,” she said.
“I’d like to think wherever she is now, she’s at peace and somewhere lovely like I hoped.
“I’m sad when I see the press and social media be so divisive and that we still haven’t learned from Caroline’s treatment before her death when it comes to women in the spotlight.
“Today I choose to remember these messages and thank the cloud for giving them back to me.”
Image: Caroline Flack pictured on Valentine’s Day 2020. Pic: @molliegroz
Flack’s family previously released an unpublished Instagram post she had written describing the stress of her arrest for common assault, while her former boyfriend Danny Cipriani also shared their final messages.
A friend also shared her “final photo” taken just hours before her death.
After Flack’s death a coroner ruled she took her own life after learning prosecutors were going to press ahead with an assault charge over an incident involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton.
Born in Enfield, Flack got her first TV break playing Bubbles on comedy sketch show Bo Selecta alongside Leigh Francis, before fronting the International Pepsi Chart Show and moving on to Channel 4’s E4 Music.
She later hosted Big Brother’s Little Brother, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here and X Factor, going on to win Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.
An upcoming Disney+ documentary follows Flack’s mother as she tries to understand events in the final months of her daughter’s life, while also celebrating her career.
Christine Flack unveiled a suicide prevention bench in north London last September in honour of her daughter.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Quentin Willson has died.
The Leicester-born car dealer and motoring journalist joined the BBC show in 1991, appearing alongside the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and James May, until the original format was cancelled 10 years later.
He then moved to Channel 5 to join its rival motoring show, Fifth Gear, and did not rejoin when Top Gear relaunched in 2002.
The 68-year-old died on Saturday following a short battle with lung cancer, his family said.
Image: Pic: PA
In a statement, they described him as a “true national treasure” who “brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms”.
The broadcaster created and presented both Britain’s Worst Drivers and The Car’s The Star.
He went on to perform on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, where he continues to hold the lowest score in the show’s history.
He was also an avid “consumer champion”, having advocated for a number of campaigns, including helping to freeze fuel duty with his FairFuel campaign.
He recently worked “tirelessly” to make electric vehicles affordable through his FairCharge campaign, his family said.
The statement continued: “Long before it was fashionable, he championed the GM EV1 and the promise of electric cars, proving he was always ahead of the curve.
“Much-loved husband to Michaela, devoted father to Mercedes, Max and Mini, and cherished grandfather to Saskia, Xander and Roxana.
“Quentin will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him personally and professionally.
“The void he has left can never be filled. His knowledge was not just learned but lived; a library of experience now beyond our reach.”
Davina McCall has revealed she has had breast cancer, nearly a year after she had surgery to remove a brain tumour.
The TV presenter revealed the diagnosis in a video posted to her Instagram on Saturday, saying she was “very angry” when she found out, but now is in a “much more positive place” after undergoing surgery to remove the tumour three weeks ago.
“I found a lump a few weeks ago. It came and went but then I was working on The Masked Singer and Lorraine, the TV show, and Lorraine Kelly had put signs on the backs of all the doors saying ‘check your breasts’ and every time I went for a wee, I did that,” she said.
“It was still there, and then one morning I saw myself in the mirror and thought ‘I’m going to get that looked at’. I had a biopsy. I found out it was indeed breast cancer and I had it taken out in a lumpectomy nearly three weeks ago.”
McCall, 58, said the “lump” was “very, very small” and was discovered early.
Image: Davina McCall said she had surgery to remove the “lump” three weeks ago. Pic: PA
“I am so relieved to have had it removed and to know that it hasn’t spread. My lymph nodes were clear, I didn’t have any removed, and all I’m going to do now is have five days of radiotherapy in January as kind of an insurance policy,” she explained.
The former Big Brother presenter thanked her medical team, family and fiance for their support, before adding: “It’s been a lot. I was very angry when I found out, but I let go of that, and I feel in a much more positive place now.
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“I think my message is: get checked if you’re worried. Check yourself regularly. If you are due a mammogram, then get it done.
“I have dense breasts and I had a mammogram in August, and I was postponing the ultrasound; I just couldn’t find time to do it. Don’t do that. Get the ultrasound.”
Her breast cancer diagnosis came nearly a year after McCall revealed that she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.
Image: McCall revealed last November that she had a benign brain tumour. Pic: PA
She said in a video posted in November last year that chances of having it were “three in a million” and that she had discovered it several months previously after a company offered her a health scan in return for giving a menopause talk.
McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.
She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, and currently presents ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.
In recent years, McCall has spoken regularly on women’s health and the effects of menopause in a bid to break taboos around the subject. Her 2022 book, Menopausing, won book of the year at the British Book Awards.
Image: McCall’s brain cancer was found after she was offered a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work. Pic: PA
The same year, McCall fronted the Channel 4 documentary Davina McCall: Sex, Mind And The Menopause, and told the BBC that perimenopausal symptoms caused her difficulties multi-tasking and she considered that she had a brain tumour or Alzheimer’s disease at the time.
In 2023, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to broadcasting.
The presenter has previously raised money for Cancer Research UK by running the Race For Life in honour of her late sister, Caroline Baday, who died from lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 50.
Kendrick Lamar is leading this year’s Grammy nominations, up for nine trophies, including record, song and album of the year.
The 38-year-old swept last year’s awards, taking home five gongs for his hit dis track Not Like Us.
The varied bag of Grammynominees – featuring big names and a few surprises – also saw K-pop stars, a knighted British rocker and a Hollywood leading man make it into the Grammy competition.
Image: Lady Gaga earlier this year. Pic: AP
Lady Gaga (who is up for record, song and album of the year too), Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer-songwriter Cirkut follow Lamar with seven nominations each.
Sabrina Carpenter got six nods, matching her nomination tally for last year.
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Alongside Lamar’s GNX, other albums to make it into the best album category this year include Lady Gaga’s Mayhem and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos (only the second all-Spanish language album to be nominated in the category, following the Puerto Rican rapper’s 2023 all-Spanish album Un Verano Sin Ti).
They are all potential first-time winners in the category.
Image: Sabrina Carpenter is up for six awards. Pic: AP
Also up for the top album prize are Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, Justin Bieber’s Swag, Clipse, Pusha T & Malice’s Let God Sort Em Out, Leon Thomas’s Mutt, and Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia.
Despite releasing a new album earlier this year, Taylor Swift, didn’t make it on to the best album nominees as The Life Of A Showgirl came out after the close of the eligibility period. The window ran from 31 August 2024 to 30 August 2025.
Image: Rosé from Blackpink. Pic: AP
K-pop gets its moment
With K-pop typically ignored by the Grammys (BTS are the only K-pop artists to previously get a nod) this year saw two K-pop tracks in contention for best song.
Golden, the lead track from global phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters and APT, the megahit by former Blackpink member Rosé alongside Bruno Mars, both made it on to the list.
Rosé got nods in four other categories, including best record, while KPop Demon Hunters got three other nominations, including in the best pop duo/group performance category.
Image: Lola Young is up for best new arist. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
British artist Lola Young, who is the niece of acclaimed children’s writer Julia Donaldson, got a nod in the best new artist category, alongside Olivia Dean. Both topped the UK charts this year.
They will compete against KATSEYE, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas and Alex Warren. Last year the category was won by Good Luck, Babe! singer Chappell Roan.
Image: Sir Elton John in Never Too Late. Pic: Walt Disney Pictures
Timothée Chalamet is up for a Grammy
In less expected Grammy news, Sir Elton John also got a nod alongside US singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile for the song Never Too Late, which features on the soundtrack of the 2024 Sir Elton documentary of the same name.
Meanwhile, actor Timothée Chalamet got his first Grammy nod in the best compilation soundtrack for visual media category for his work on Oscar-nominated movie A Complete Unknown, in which he played Bob Dylan.
Image: Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Pic: Searchlight Pictures 2024
Nominations were announced by past Grammy winners, including Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii and last year’s best new artist winner, Chappell Roan.
Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne came together to announce the rock and metal album nominationsin tribute to Ozzy, who died in July. He had previously won in both categories.
Image: The Osbournes announced the best rock and metal album nominations. Pic: Grammys/Recording Academy
The annual ceremony– which gives out a whopping 95 gongs in total – has four big categories: album, record and song of the year, and best new artist.
Following Beyoncé’s historic win for best album and best country album for Cowboy Carter, this year the country category has been divided into two: best traditional country album and best contemporary country album.
There’s also the new addition of a standalone category for best album cover.
Last year, Beyoncé made history as the Grammy’s most nominated artist, winning album of the year for the first time.
Winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy.
The 68th Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, 1 February 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Main category nominees
Album Of The Year DeBi TiRAR MaS FOtoS, Bad Bunny Swag, Justin Bieber Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse, Pusha T and Malice MAYHEM, Lady Gaga GNX, Kendrick Lamar Mutt, Leon Thomas CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, The Creator
Record Of The Year DtMF, Bad Bunny Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter Anxiety, Doechii Wildflower, Billie Eilish Abracadabra, Lady Gaga luther, Kendrick Lamar with SZA The Subway, Chappell Roan APT, Bruno Mars and Rosé
Song Of The Year Abracadabra, Lady Gaga Anxiety, Doechii APT, Bruno Mars and Rosé DtMF, Bad Bunny Golden, EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI luther, Kendrick Lamar with SZA Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter Wildflower, Billie Eilish
Best New Artist Olivia Dean KATSEYE The Marias Addison Rae sombr Leon Thomas Alex Warren Lola Young