Olly Murs has delivered a heartfelt tribute to his former X Factor co-star Caroline Flack at the third annual Flackstock festival on Monday, July 22. The 40-year-old father of one was a close friend of the late Love Island host, who tragically took her own life in February 2020 at the age of 40.
Flackstock is an annual festival organised by Caroline’s friends and family to celebrate her life through music, comedy, and dance while raising funds for mental health charities. The idea for the festival came about after Caroline’s friends felt that the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, which began just 13 days after her funeral, deprived them and her family of the opportunity to grieve together.
In its inaugural year in 2022, Flackstock featured performances from stars such as Ronan Keating, Tom Grennan, Olly Murs, Natalie Imbruglia, and more. The event attracted thousands of attendees and raised an impressive £325k, which was equally divided between Choose Love, Mind, Samaritans and Charlie Waller Trust four charities that were close to Caroline’s heart.
This year, the festival was held at Englefield House, Pangbourne, in Berkshire and saw appearances from celebrities including Tom Walker, Olly Murs, Joe Wickes, Rebecca Ferguson, Gok Wan, Kate Lawler, Denise Van Outen, and others.
Yesterday afternoon, Olly Murs took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute and a series of videos with the late TV icon Caroline Flack, in memory of the upcoming Flackstock 2024. He wrote, “Been reminiscing a lot these last few weeks knowing Flackstock is today! “, and continued to reflect on their shared moments of song.
“Caz loved singing, we did it so much, didn’t always capture those moments on camera but I did capture them as memories which I’ll never forget. So I thought I’d put some of these clips on here that I found of her beautiful voice! She sang more than me when I was around her.”
Olly expressed his mixed emotions about the day, saying, “Today will be hard, it’s really odd feeling for me, I have this feeling of wanting to do this gig for her, for her family and for us to remember what a crazy funny kind mad hilarious woman she was but also feeling I’d rather this festival not be here, and that Caz was still here with us. I’ve never felt emotions like this before a gig! “
He acknowledged the significance of Flackstock, stating, “Although hard this festival is a special event, which brings everyone together not just to celebrate her life but help those out there that are struggling too, the amazing charities that are involved in this can really help people. I’m honoured to be here and I know she will be drinking a pina colada tonight watching x miss ya caz.”
The post, which quickly amassed over 100,000 likes, saw fans flooding the comments section with messages of support. One fan commented: “She’d be so proud of you and smiling at how your keeping her memory alive,” while another shared: “What a voice, what a smile, what a laugh! Sending huge love to you all today.”
Celebrities also flocked to the comments section with broadcaster Ashley James penning: “I miss her so much!” while Pixie Lott offered three heart emojis in response to Olly’s post.
Later that evening, an emotional Olly took time out to share his thoughts on Instagram. Struggling with tears in the back of a car, he revealed: “Wow, what a night tonight, I just wanted to come on here and say thank you to everyone that came to Flackstock.”
Thanks were given to everyone who contributed to raising impressive amounts for charity, as well as for their love and support. He continued: “It was an emotional one tonight, the weirdest feeling this gig tonight, I’ve never had a feeling like it in all the years I’ve been perfoming. This is Caroline’s festival it’s in her name it’s for her and her family and all the incredible charities.”
He went on to say: “I was very emotional going into it but I just think that you guys pulled through for me – the fans were incredible tonight, thank you for the love, the support- you guys singing.”
* Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org