THE news that Caroline Flack had died came as a shock to many and, despite her court case and whatever other personal details have been published about her life in recent times, it was desperately sad.

Caroline Flack, as a former presenter, has become the third person to die having been connected to the show after former contestants Sophie Gradon in 2018 and Mike Thalassitis in 2019.

As a result, another question springs to mind: why is Love Island still on TV?

The Jeremy Kyle show was axed, and rightly so, after former guest Stephen Dymond took his own life, so why is Love Island being kept on TV after three deaths?

Surely we should be asking serious questions about why the show is still running, or at least whether more should be done to look after the wellbeing of those who appear on it?

Shows like Love Island and Jeremy Kyle invite the worst kind of abuse from viewers and social media users, and some of the vitriol and hatred meted out to “contestants” is truly horrific.

There is an argument that these people willingly put themselves into the public eye by agreeing to take part in the shows, but that still does not excuse death threats and the kind of abuse that might impact on someone's wellbeing.

I suspect the reason Love Island has not been axed is that, unlike Jeremy Kyle, the show remains commercially successful.

The Jeremy Kyle show had been something of a millstone around ITV for a long time, with many details coming out about what being on the show was really like and how appearing on it often only made the lives of the various guests worse.

If it is true, it is a depressing thought, that TV companies value their ratings and social media engagement over the welfare of human beings.

Why is there no public enquiry going on looking into the situation? Three people are now dead having appeared, in one way or another, on Love Island.

It seems the regulators and TV companies are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to the real-world consequences of these shows, as are the social media companies providing a platform for the vile abuse contestants regularly receive.

There is no accountability and I fear we may see more of these tragic incidents happen if nothing is done.