Danny Cipriani has shared a powerful video in which he detailed his own struggles with suicidal feelings, following the death of his friend, Caroline Flack.

The former rugby star, who briefly dated Caroline in 2019, posted the video on Friday morning, revealing he’d been inspired to speak his truth after “someone he loved very dearly as a person… decided to take her own life, as everyone knows”.

He explained that he had been in touch with his friend “for the last three or four months”, saying; “We’ve always been in contact, since we were together, since we weren’t, it’s always been a loving friendship, and I was so vulnerable with her in my moments, when we first met, and I told her everything about me, because I felt safe with her.”

“I told her all the things I was embarrassed and shameful about, and she made me OK. And ultimately it was embarrassment and shame that killed her.

“So I’m telling everyone now what my most embarrassing and shameful moments are, because I know she knew I had the strength to do this, and we had spoken about how things had to change. But I didn’t know it was going to take this [for it to happen].”

A visibly emotional Danny continued: “She knew everything about me, and the reason I’m saying this is because embarrassment and shame is not something that should make you do this. It’s how we treat people and look after them, because everyone has embarrassment and shame to some sort of degree.

“Whatever it is, we be kind. We try to be and be gentle… we don’t need maliciousness, we don’t need people going through your bin, we don’t need people trying to gather information.

“But at the end of the day, we’ve created what the media is. Because at the end of the day, if there’s a good and bad story, the bad story is [read] more, if the bad story is [read] more, then as a business, they’re going to keep doing the bad.”

Useful websites and helplines:

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill.)
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email: help@themix.org.uk
• Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (open Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on www.rethink.org.

He concluded: “As human beings, as social media, we now have the power to [make a change]. On social media, we can be kind, and not read that, and do things and change perception and everything.

“What I’m trying to say is… we can’t just blame the media. We can’t blame ourselves, it’s just what has been created. But we can now change what is happening. We can move forward.

“Her life will not go in vain, and this is why I have to tell this story.”

Danny also noted that he’d spoken to Caroline the day before her death, saying he’d even “written her messages that she’s not going to read”.

Since Caroline’s suicide was reported over the weekend, a number of the presenter’s high-profile friends and colleagues have paid their own emotional tributes.

This includes Laura Whitmore, who is presenting the current series of Love Island, and delivered a powerful speech on her BBC Radio 5 Live show on Sunday, urging her listeners to be kinder to one another.

“Anyone who has ever compared one woman against another on Twitter, knocked someone because of their appearance, invaded someone’s privacy, who’ve made mean, unnecessary comments on an online forum need to look at themselves,” Laura said.

“To the press, the newspapers who create clickbait, who demonise and tear down success, we’ve had enough. 

“I’ve seen journalists and Twitter warriors talk of this tragedy, who they themselves have twisted what the truth is. You don’t have to tear someone down to feel good about yourself.

“So to listeners, be kind. Only you are responsible for how you treat others and what you put out in the world. I’ve had messages, I’ve been harassed for just doing my job, and this is where the problem is. I want to use my platform – this platform – to call people out, because it’s gone too far. Your words affect people. 

“To paparazzi and tabloids looking for a cheap sell, to trolls hiding behind a keyboard: enough.”