Gloucester Rugby’s Danny Cipriani has shared the final Whatsapp messages he exchanged with TV presenter Caroline Flack, opening up about his grieving process on Instagram.
In the messages, he reveals that she called him ‘black dot’ and that he spoke to her about ‘working in an industry that doesn’t suit him’ and she spoke about ‘the court case coming up.’
The post reads: “Black dot. Before I start. This is my grieving process. Which is talking. A lot. Which my friends and family and teammates have had to take this last 10 days because I’m grieving. And I’m grieving hard. Hence I’m talking a lot.
“I’m not sure I’d be strong enough if I didn’t understand or see myself in her. Pain is pain. It doesn’t matter if you’ve lost a cat. Or been called a name. No ones pain is worse or less. Because it is individual to them and how they take it.
“So… Black dot. If you judge the first pic you see a black dot. But I didn’t really know what she meant when she called me black dot. Until her best friend told me on Sunday last week. ‘She used to call you black dot, now I know, your WhatsApp pic is a black dot’ – so I changed my WhatsApp pic to a black dot about five months ago because I felt there were people who had my number who I couldn’t trust.
“Ultimately I would have let them into my life. So ultimately I would have to ask myself why. Anyway. This story is about the beauty she found in a situation I found uncomfortable. ‘I’m just talking to black dot’ she would say. She was kind beyond belief. And she would think I am crazy doing all this. But I know she would be proud.
“I’m taking lent off social media. Thank you all for the kind messages. And all the lovely response. Thank you for the bad response. It’s my story. And I did it for me. Then her – she wasn’t allowed to talk to her BF throughout the case because of the law. He wanted the charges dropped. They wanted to pursue. I am not pointing the fingers. The CPS and police do a good job. Just saying we can’t always do a good job.
“This is my grieving process. Our greatest strength is our greatest weakness. PS – I was shown how to disable comments. So I’m going to do so on this post. Because it’s for me and my grieving process. But in a month I will be back on social because that’s 2020 and this is me navigating my way through life.”
DANNY CIPRIANI FACTS
Here’s 10 things you didn’t know about Gloucester fly-half Danny Cipriani that might surprise you…
1. Sporting talent
A keen all-round sportsman, Cipriani played junior football for Queens Park Rangers and was offered youth terms by Reading. He also played schoolboy cricket for Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Cipriani was invited to join Surrey County Cricket Club as a batsman. He also played squash at county level
2. First rugby club
He first played club rugby at Rosslyn Park in Roehampton, where he developed his passion for the game.
3. Heritage
The fly-half is mixed-race; his father is Afro-Trinidadian with some Italian heritage while his mother is English. Cipriani’s father, Jay, and his mother, Anne, separated soon after his birth. Although Jay returned to Trinidad, Cipriani was able to remain in contact with him.