When Caroline Flack was arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend, former Love Island contestant Olivia Attwood took to social media to support her.

In the weeks before Ms Flack took her own life – after she was charged with attacking Lewis Burton in December 2019 – Ms Attwood posted to say she 'loved' the presenter and was 'thinking of her'.

But she has now revealed that she was targeted for backing Ms Flack and has lambasted social media users for putting the star 'on trial' on platforms such as Instagram and X.

Ms Attwood, 33, right, who described Ms Flack as her 'kindred spirit', tells today's You magazine: 'I heard a psychiatrist say that in medieval times people got a kick out of watching hangings in the village square.

'Civilisation has progressed, but now we do it differently. We love putting people on trial.

'It's animalistic. Caroline's death was much more complex than being about social media, but her fear of that unkindness factored into it.

'[After the alleged assault] I publicly supported Caroline, which not many in our industry did, and the abuse

I got was really vicious. 'You're disgusting'; 'She did this to her boyfriend' – then she took her own life and you saw the comments deleted.'

Ms Attwood befriended Love Island host Ms Flack when she took part in the reality show in 2017.

When she was getting 'heat' online during her time in the villa, Ms Flack supported her. The former X Factor presenter took her own life on February 15, 2020, shortly before she was to go on trial for the alleged assault on Mr Burton.

Meanwhile, Ms Attwood takes a swipe in the interview at another Love Island star, Maura Higgins, after she was filmed kissing her married I'm A Celeb co-star, McFly singer Danny Jones, at a Brits after-party last month.