Lewis Burton is mourning the death of his girlfriend, Caroline Flack, who tragically died by suicide at the age of 40 in London on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Just hours after her death was announced, the model and former professional tennis player wrote an emotional tribute to the "Love Island" host on Instagram.
"My heart is broken we had something so special," the 27-year-old captioned the image of the two sitting together on a beach.
"I am so lost for words I am in so much pain I miss you so much I know you felt safe with me you always said I don't think about anything else when I am with you and I was not allowed to be there this time I kept asking and asking," he continued.
"I will be your voice baby I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers nothing will bring you back but I will try make you proud everyday. I love you with all my heart đź’”."
On his Instagram stories he also shared a screenshot of a post Flack shared two months ago. "In a world where you can be anything, be king," it read. He captioned it: "I will love you forever."
In December 2019, Flack was charged with assault after a domestic incident with Burton. She stepped down from her hosting duties and experienced overwhelming media scrutiny — despite the fact that Burton later backtracked on claims she had assaulted him. She was released on bail with conditions that forbid her from having any contact with Burton until after her March 4 trial. Her team believes the stress contributed to her choice to end her life.
In reaction to her death, her management company spoke out against the Crown Prosecution Service for pursuing the case.
"In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported. The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events," the statement read, according to The Sun.
"The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest. And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline. Our thoughts are with Caroline's family at this time."