The boyfriend of TV presenter Caroline Flack, who was found dead at her home on Saturday, has said he is heartbroken by her death.

Flack, 40, was due to go on trial on 4 March for assaulting Lewis Burton, a prosecution he did not support. She had been forbidden by a judge from communicating with him before the trial.

The former host of ITV2’s Love Island is reported to have been discovered at her home in east London on Saturday. A lawyer for her family said she had taken her own life.

“My heart is broken, we had something so special,” Burton wrote on Instagram on Sunday morning. “I am so lost for words. I am in so much pain. I miss you so much. I know you felt safe with me. You always said ‘I don’t think about anything else when I am with you’ and I was not allowed to be there this time. I kept asking and asking.

Caroline Flack: the ITV presenter's death is a stomach-churning shock Read more

“I will be your voice, baby. I promise I will ask all the questions you wanted and I will get all the answers. Nothing will bring you back, but I will try to make you proud every day. I love you with all my heart.”

Flack presented many of UK television’s biggest reality TV shows and their spin-offs, from The X Factor to I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Now!, and won the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing in 2014.

Many of Flack’s former colleagues and friends paid tribute to the “warm and funny” entertainer on social media.

The BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker tweeted: “Awful news about Caroline Flack. We really need to be better at taking care of each other.” The This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield added: “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Flack was arrested in December for assault and was charged with attacking Burton, 27, with a lamp at their home in Islington, north London. The court heard that Burton had “received significant injury to his head”. Flack was released on bail on the condition that she did not contact Burton until the trial.

Her death has prompted criticism of her treatment by the media. Tabloids, including the Sun, which broke the news of her death, moved swiftly to delete recent negative stories about her.

A statement from her family on Saturday said: “We can confirm that our Caroline passed away today, 15 February. We would ask that the press respect the privacy of the family at this difficult time and we would ask they make no attempt to contact us and/or photograph us.”