Caroline Flack and her slow-mo walk were missed from last night’s show (Picture: ITV/REX)
As Love Island 2021 kicked into gear and we were introduced to the latest roll call of Islanders hoping to fall in love, there was one major element missing – Caroline Flack.
The late star – who died in February 2020 – had become synonymous with the summer version of the programme, having hosted the current franchise from 2015 to 2019.
Laura Whitmore took the hosting reins, after Flack was dropped by ITV following the alleged assault of her then-boyfriend Lewis Burton weeks before the first-ever winter edition of the series launched, and hoped to do Flack ‘proud’ this week.
In a bittersweet moment, Flack’s former manager, Nathan Charles Smith, also paid tribute to the popular host as he shared sweet images of the pair celebrating all things Love Island over the years.
In one image shared to Instagram on Monday night, Flack was seen beaming in front of a billboard on Piccadilly Circus which sported her face on a Love Island advert.
She was then seen in an iconic promo shoot for the ITV2 series, sitting in a cockpit alongside Nathan who was looking at the star with a grin.
She looked thrilled to see her billboard (Picture: Instagram)
The pair were then see in a Love Island promo shoot set (Picture: Instagram)
Alongside a shot of Flack standing in front of picturesque mountains, in a bright blue and yellow dress with her hair curled to perfection, on the set of the winter Love Island advert shoot Nathan wrote: ‘You’ll always be queen of [Love Island].’
Fans shared her sadness at missing Flack on last night’s episode, as one mused on Twitter: Think it’s so sad not seeing Caroline flack walking out on love island.’
As many missed her iconic slow motion walks, another wrote: ‘Laura Whitmore is doing an incredible job and I admire her so much for it. But god I miss Caroline Flack. She should be here to enjoy Love Island with us all.’
It comes after host Laura paid tribute to her predecessor in the lead up to last night’s premiere, which saw the first coupling up of this year’s contestants.
Sharing a promo shot of herself with the new Love Island backdrop on Instagram, the new mum wrote: ‘I think we’re all ready for some love! Ahhhhhh! So excited to watch the new islanders.
‘Hope you enjoy talking about them and following their journey and just a reminder to treat them with love, compassion and respect when they leave the show and go back to real life.’
She added: ‘Caroline I hope we do you proud. One week to go.’
Last night saw a relatively drama-free episode as the excitable singletons got to know one another.