Danny Cipriani's grief for Caroline Flack was "intense".
Danny Cipriani
The 33-year-old rugby player was left devastated when his close pal - who he briefly dated in 2019 - took her own life last February and he admitted he's still experiences waves of sadness when he remembers his loss.
He said: "'I think grievance happens in different stages. Mine was very intense. At different times, it comes and goes. There are moments when you remember that person. You have to remember the happy times and I don’t think that ever disappears."
Danny's initial devastation was compounded when coronavirus restrictions meant he got stuck in Los Angeles for several months.
He explained to the Daily Mail newspaper: "It was a challenging year. I was grieving for my friend and we had a week off, so I went to LA, then COVID hit.
"I couldn’t get back and I was there for three months. It’s obviously a beautiful place to be but I hadn’t been there for three months before and I was going through that [grief]."
The sportsman's struggles grew harder when, while the rugby season was paused due to the pandemic, he and fiancee Victoria Rose lost their baby 24 weeks into her pregnancy.
However, the tragedy has only brought the couple closer together.
He said: "During that period, when the season was stopped, we also lost a baby. I think, as the male, I had a delayed on-set of grief about that."
"You try to pick your partner up and you don’t realise at the time the effect it has on you. We went through that process together and we are really strong now. We’re in a really good position to start trying again and we’re happy about that."
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