Danny Cipriani reveals he was suicidal at the age of 22 as he shares emotional video after Caroline Flack’s death

February 21, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Gloucester Flyhalf, Danny Cipriani has revealed in a video posted to his Instagram account that he tried to buy a gun to take his own life at the age of 22. Cipriani opened up about his past mental-health struggles in a heartbreaking 18-minute video posted on his Instagram account in the wake of his ex-girlfriend Caroline Flack's death.

The Gloucester star said he had been talking to Flack regularly in the past three to four months, and that she had tried to call him and text him on Friday night in the hours before she killed herself. Cipriani was playing for Gloucester against Exeter Chiefs on the day and was unable to take Flack's call or reply to her message.

The pair had dated historically, and Cipriani said he shared everything with Flack "because she made me feel safe" while also adding that "it was ultimately embarrassment and shame that killed her", which is why he decided to speak out.

In the video, Cipriani said when he was 22 he was going through "severe depression", and it was at this point he said he wanted to kill himself.

Struggling to talk, the 32-year-old said: ‘Someone that I loved as a person very dearly and someone I’ve very close to has decided to take her own life, as everyone knows, and I’ve speaking to her for the past three, four months, we’ve always been in contact since we were together, since we weren’t, and it’s always been a loving friendship.

‘I was so vulnerable with her in my moments since we first met and I told her everything about me, because I felt safe with her. I told her all the things I was embarrassed and shameful about. She made me feel ok. And ultimately it was embarrassment and shame that killed her. ‘I know she knew I had the strength to do this, and we had spoken about how things had to change. I didn’t know it would take this.'

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