Caroline Flack has written an open letter to the men she’s dated through her 20s and 30s in a candid reflection on her relationship history.
The Love Island presenter, who is now engaged to former Apprentice star Andrew Brady, looked back on the men she’s “loved, lost and found” and what each of them taught her.
Writing in this month’s Cosmopolitan magazine, Flack reveals how her family thought she’d end up falling in love with her best friend, describing the relationship with him as natural and easy.
However, she concluded that everything was there aside from romantic feelings, which are obviously a fairly important component when it comes to love.
Reflecting on the relationships in her 30s, Flack recalls dating men who were “hopelessly inappropriate” for her.
During this time, the presenter was romantically linked to Prince Harry, Olly Murs and Harry Styles, a relationship which garnered a flurry of headlines due to the duo’s 14-year age gap and resulted in Flack being offered a “heap of money” to be the face of Cougarlife.com.
She declined, adding that she felt more powerful dating in her 30s than she did in her 20s, having been through a string of bad relationships, overcoming heartbreak and unrequited love.
Flack revealed how she met her husband-to-be after she spotted him on TV and promptly decided to follow him on Instagram.
The TV host explained how Brady returned the follow along with a message, reading: “Thanks for the support”.
“It made me laugh so I gave you my number,” Flack writes, “a few days later, we met.”
Recalling their first date, the 38-year-old presenter described the meeting as “effortless”, adding that it felt like they’d known each other for years.
“I’ll never forget seeing you walk into the restaurant – tall, with a smile 10 miles wide, not just for me but for everyone in there,” she writes.
Flack added that the date was completely free from nerves, describing the evening as “just two people laughing and getting to know each other until the early hours.”
She made clear distinctions between her relationship with Brady and her previous ones, explaining that this was the first time a partnership had been about friendship as well as love.
The two got engaged after dating for only three months.
The full interview appears in the August 2018 issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale Wednesday.
