Caroline Flack lifts the lid on her dating life as she finally opens up about those ‘Muggy’ Mike Love Island rumours
The Strictly winner also discusses the blow of losing her X Factor job, but insists she has no hard feelings towards Simon Cowell as she prepares for her first stage role in the musical Crazy For You
AMONG Caroline Flack’s attributes – and she has many – it’s perhaps her bouncebackability that has stood her in the greatest stead over the last few roller-coaster years.
Whenever she’s suffered a career blow (such as losing the Xtra Factor job in 2014) she’s dusted herself down and followed it up with a veritable triumph (winning Strictly Come Dancing).
And take what happened with the troublesome 2015 series of The X Factor.
Caroline was hired as the main show’s host alongside Olly Murs – then promptly dropped again after what was universally panned as a lacklustre season in terms of both talent and viewing figures, where several attempts at shaking up the format backfired.
But she put it behind her to focus on Love Island, which, now into its third series, became the most talked-about show this year.
Not only that, she’s currently starring as Irene Roth in the touring musical Crazy For You, finally fulfilling her childhood dream of doing musical theatre.
“Theatre is what I actually aimed to do but never ended up doing,” says Caroline. “So it’s nice to be able to go: ‘Hold on – this is what I was supposed to do when I left school.’ They’re the only qualifications I have and I’m using them for the first time. It’s good.”
Caroline, 37, is far too gracious to whinge about the scapegoating she suffered for the failings of The X Factor 2015. Contrary to much of the, erm, flack, she actually held the show together pretty admirably.
However, she does admit that the experience was bruising.
“It taught me that the industry is tough. It’s tough! It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s never just a walk in the park. You win some, you lose some. It’s probably gonna happen to me again somewhere down the line with another job. But I can’t walk away. I’m not a quitter.”
The difference these days is how she recovers from the setbacks. While the initial hurt is the same as it ever was, Caroline has learned not to dwell on those upsets and to have faith that something else — something better — is just around the corner.
“When I was auditioning for musicals after leaving college and didn’t get them, it felt as bad then as getting knocked back now. The feeling never changes just because a lot more people see it happen.
“But growing up means being able to cope with things and rationalise them. At the end of the day, it’s not serious. I’m not saving lives. There are much bigger things going on in the world, far more important jobs. I’m doing entertainment, and it’s a brilliant but silly job. That’s showbiz.”
There are no hard feelings towards Simon Cowell, she’s still friends with Olly and says it “wouldn’t be fair” to pinpoint what she personally thinks went awry.
“Honestly, I’m so grateful to all of the production team and to Simon for the opportunities that changed my life. I can’t go back and moan about The X Factor because Xtra Factor [which Caroline presented from 2011] was so brilliant.
“Some shows are perfect for you, some aren’t, and if you look back and be angry and bitter, you’re not going to enjoy the rest of your time.”
Besides, she says with some satisfaction, it helped fund the dream house she now owns in north London.
“I have a lovely home and that’s down to Simon Cowell and the four lovely years on The X Factor. So I’m not moaning at all.
“And what’s great about that is I can give advice to other people who are going through a similar situation and say to them: ‘This feels really bad now, but I promise you it’s happened for a reason and something else will always come along.’
“Something can feel like the worst situation ever, but it’s just meant to be. Knowing that, alongside working hard and being nice to people and getting to know them… it all pays off.”
However, Caroline was as surprised as anyone about the success of this latest series of Love Island, which saw nearly 3million people tune in to the final back in July, making it the biggest show in ITV2’s history.
It was when Primark launched a range of T-shirts bearing the various catchphrases including “100% my type on paper” and “I’ve got a text!” that she realised it had all gone a bit mad.
“The last time I can think of a TV moment being on a T-shirt was a crying Gazza from the 1990 World Cup. I remember my dad bought me one of those.
“And then my older sister started watching the show, and she never watches anything. I was like: ‘You don’t even watch telly!’ and yet she was getting into it.”
Obviously the show was brilliantly cast, slickly produced and beautifully shot, which made it hugely entertaining. But it also came after a few months of terrible tragedy, with two London terror attacks, the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell Tower fire. Were people subconsciously looking for something to take their minds off all the sadness?
“It’s definitely a form of escapism,” Caroline agrees. “I think we’re also just generally quite nosy and we love relationships. “And what I love about it is that in real life, you would never have a conversation two days into a relationship asking whether you should couple up. You just wouldn’t dare! You spend, like, two months playing it really cool and not texting back. But they have to talk about everything really quickly, so it’s a really sped-up version of a real relationship.”
As buzz about the show escalated, Love Island fans popped up in the strangest of places. Even Jeremy Corbyn advised people to vote for Marcel.
“Liam Gallagher was my favourite,” says Caroline. “Jo Whiley asked him at Glastonbury if he was going to watch anyone else perform, but he said he wanted to get back and watch Love Island. Brilliant.”
Caroline was reported to be getting in on the Love Island action herself after she was linked to contestant Mike “Muggy” Thalassitis. Rumours swirled when Caroline Instagrammed a picture of them together on set, captioning it “Muggy but huggy”, and the pair were said to have got very close during the after-show party.
“Oh my god,” says Caroline today. “I’m not talking about bloody Muggy Mike! Do you honestly think if I was having an affair with Mike I would put it on Instagram?”
That’s not exactly a denial…
“Do you think if I was having an affair with Muggy Mike I’d put on my Instagram?” she repeats.
Which is still not a denial.
“We’re friends. I’m friends with all of the contestants. They’re like my little brothers and sisters. And I do like being a bit protective over them because it’s turned into something much more than the first series.
Now they come out and they’re the top story on all the different websites and it’s a big change for them.”
Caroline has been single, publicly at least, since splitting with artist Blue Logan earlier this year.
She’s spoken in the past about her struggles to handle heartbreak, but says she doesn’t care that it means she’s often portrayed as perpetually unlucky in love.
“It doesn’t bother me. I take it with a pinch of salt. It doesn’t define me. I know the truth… I definitely have parts of my life that have never been prodded at.”
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OK, let’s prod. Is there a significant other in her life at the moment?
“I’m dating,” is all she’ll say before clamming up, not wanting to elaborate.
“I’m just dating. Having fun. I’m living my best life. What does that mean? I guess where you feel like you’re in a good place. I feel settled. Not ‘settled down’ but definitely settled, if that makes sense.”
Quick-witted and forthright, she certainly seems in fine fettle, despite battling a cold and shooting the cover of our Style Issue on a freezing-cold rooftop in the spitting rain.
She loves the cool London styling and earmarks a few pieces to take home after the shoot. Autumn/winter is her favourite fashion season.
“I like layers and jumpers and I love being comfortable. I’m obsessed at the minute with & Other Stories. I could go in there and spend a ridiculous amount of money.
"It’s mid-price but it looks expensive, and it’s smart and grown-up.”
She also lists Zara as a favourite, but is a committed designer girl when it comes to bags and shoes.
Today she’s wearing a pair of fabulous £945 Louis Vuitton lace-up platform heeled boots that she declares the “comfiest shoes ever”.
“Because I’m quite small, I do like to have a bit of height, and these are like wearing a trainer. I love a heel.
“Dress-wise, Rixo pieces are insane. I like the vintage feel and I love their necklines. Because I have humongous boobs, it’s hard for me to wear low-cut, but the dress I wore to the Glamour Awards this year – people thought I’d had my boobs done! I usually hide them but now I’m kind of like: ‘Maybe they should be out there more!’ It’s all about getting the shape right, I think.”
A visit to second-hand couture store William Vintage in London was “life-changing” when she discovered that, lo and behold, she had a waist. Since then, she’s fully embraced belts and corsets, which she’d previously spent a lifetime shying away from.
“He [William Banks-Blaney] got his hands on my body and said: ‘You’ve got a small waist.’ I’m like: ‘I haven’t.’ And he goes: ‘You have! You just don’t wear it in the right way.’
“So he’s putting me in these dresses made in the ‘50s and ‘60s when women used to be [she mimes being hoiked] into clothes, and it turns out I have got a small waist, which I never knew about.
“It’s about learning where your clothes sit. I’ve discovered belts! I would never have put a belt on before. I’d have preferred to wear some sort of smock dress. But he was like: ‘No, show your waist. You’re a woman!’
“I’ve got to know my body and dressing for it. I used to go for a high neckline and Peter Pan collar with shorts – and actually that’s wasn’t doing me any favours because my body is quite big-breasted, small-waisted and curvy around the hips. I would never have gone for mid-length dresses at all but now I’m really into them.
“I’ve got loads of fashion regrets,” she admits. “I get it wrong. Some people do get it right all the time, but I definitely don’t!”
She says she’s never felt healthier, having given up dairy and cut out sugar, as well as training with Olympian Sarah Lindsay three times a week.
“I’ve got absolutely no self-discipline – I need a trainer or other people around me in a class so I can’t leave after 10 minutes,” she says.
“I love doing weights. I used to hate my arms – now I quite like them and that’s down to weights, the flies and the push-ups.”
This new self-assurance also means Caroline has given up responding to the social media trolls who used to make her life a misery.
Back in the day, she says she wasn’t able to “bite my tongue”. Now she’s philosophical and doesn’t spend half as much time scrolling through Twitter.
“People are only ever nasty about others when it makes themselves feel better,” she says.
And then she shrugs nonchalantly. “Say whatever you want. It’s not going to change the way I feel about myself.”
- Caroline is appearing in Crazy For You across the UK until December 9. For tickets, visit .
Feeling sociable
Most famous follower on Twitter?
Gillian Anderson. And she only follows 126 people.
Best Instagram feed?
Dawn O’Porter’s quite good. She makes me laugh. Gizzi Erskine as well, because she has the best recipes.
Funniest person on Twitter?
I don’t really go on Twitter much any more – it’s dying a bit for me. Gemma Collins is a good one, though.
Do you have a secret Facebook profile?
No, I have a normal one with my name, but it’s private. I use Facebook for finding builders: “Anyone got a builder who is really good at unblocking sinks?”
Who was your last Twitter DM from?
Net-a-Porter, about a late delivery.
- Additional photography: I-Images, Splash, Richard Davenport.
- Hair: Dino Pereira using Batiste.
- Make-up: Christian Vermaak using Mac.
- Styling: Tracey Lea Sayer.
- Stockists: Carvela Kurt Geiger (), Chi Chi London (), Debenhams (), House of Fraser (), Mango (), Missguided (), Next (), Scotch & Soda (), Zara ()