Caroline Flack's dazzling Strictly Come Dancing victory is still remembered as one of the show's greatest finales - but behind the scenes, the late presenter was suffering in silence. Now her closest friend Mollie Grosberg has revealed the heartbreaking truth about the night Caroline lifted the Glitterball Trophy. Mollie - Caroline's long-term best friend and a key contributor in Disney+'s Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth - said the TV star's triumph in 2014 came at a deeply painful personal moment.

During an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk, she said: "She won strictly in heartbreak. Literally her heart was breaking as she won. She'd found just before that her boyfriend at the time had broken up with her for someone else and she was in total heartbreak. It was so sad. So she couldn't even enjoy that. We did have a party a few days after to celebrate her win and try to have a good time. She was so vulnerable and so sad. She'd go from crying to having a good time but then being sad again. It was like she had to always think about her brand first."

Caroline's Strictly win with Pasha Kovalev crowned her one of the show's strongest-ever performers, becoming the first couple to score three perfect 40s in the final. But Mollie says the reality of that night was worlds away from the glitter and celebration seen on screen.

Reflecting on their friendship, she admitted: "Even through all of the darkness we would still have the best time together. She was so sad and she was going through so much, but where there were moments of light and it was just her being herself and not worrying about everything else, it was the best thing ever.

"She was such a professional so she could be going through the worst thing ever, usually a romance thing, and she would still be on the minute she needed to be on."

Mollie also revealed Caroline's deepest fears about how the public viewed her, saying: "Her love life was traumatic but she was the best friend. She was so worried about people knowing her mental health problems and if she could look down now she would just want everyone to be nice to each other.

"She never held a grudge. She was pure love inside. She was an incredible friend to me."

Tragically, Mollie revealed that help was finally on the way - but not soon enough. She said an intervention had been arranged for later that very day: "We were planning an intervention that day but we were too late."

Mollie said she'd been at lunch the day Caroline died and had texted her before heading home. She returned within half an hour to find the door locked, later discovering Caroline had taken her own life.

She added: "I've never discussed her death until now. It's all been a blur. But we can spread the message that being kind to each other is so important.

"When it happened I did have suicidal thoughts. I didn't look after myself and the devastation of what happened has left me not even wanting to be alone. I would never do it because I think about what was left behind after she did it - the destruction and the pain."

Mollie said she often thinks about how different things might have been if Caroline had felt able to speak publicly about her mental health, admitting: "100% if she would have been more open about her mental health things would have been so much better."

And for her, Caroline's legacy comes down to the simplest truth: "She just wanted everyone to be nice to eachother... All she wanted was love."