Dead at 32, the middle-class Love Island star who said: I sold my soul to reality TV
A LoVe Island star found dead at the age of 32 may have paid the price of finding instant fame, friends claimed last night.
Former beauty queen Sophie Gradon had admitted selling her soul to reality television.
She also revealed that since appearing on the ITV2 dating show two years ago she had been the victim of bullying online.
Miss Gradon, who shared revealing photographs of herself and her apparently glamorous lifestyle with hundreds of thousands on social media, was found dead at her parents’ £900,000 home in Ponteland, Northumberland, on Wednesday evening. She had returned from a holiday in the south of France with boyfriend Aaron Armstrong only a week ago and on Sunday had shared a photo of them dining out.
Yesterday Mr Armstrong paid tribute to her, writing: ‘I will never forget that smile I love you so, so much baby your my world forever and always.’ Miss Gradon’s parents, who run a landscaping business, were too upset to comment.
Northumbria Police said officers were called to a house in Ponteland at 8.27pm on Wednesday, where a 32-year-old woman was found dead. They added: ‘There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. A report will now be prepared for the coroner.’
Miss Gradon, who was educated privately at Dame Allan’s School in Newcastle upon Tyne and had a university degree, began modelling at 16. In 2008 she won Miss Newcastle and was crowned Miss Great Britain the following year.
She combined modelling work with jobs in marketing and recruit- ment. But she made her name from her sexual antics on the 2016 series of Love Island. She initially coupled with future boyfriend Tom Powell – getting intimate with him in a wardrobe – before having a brief relationship with Katie Salmon.
Speaking after the series, she said appearing on Love Island had left her ‘the most stressed, anxious, f***** up’ she had ever felt.
She subsequently admitted online she felt she had sold her soul and that her mental health had suffered.
Last year she tweeted that she was ‘just battling a little bit of depression’.
She added later: ‘ Feel so guilty when my anxiety takes over, for not wanting to see or speak to anyone. Some days I get so overwhelmed I just want to nap!’
In April she said life had improved, writing: ‘Thinking back to when I became a total recluse, afraid to go out anywhere bc of crippling anxiety & how different my life is now!!! Facing up to your fears
‘Afraid to go out anywhere’
is sometimes the hardest but most rewarding thing!!!’
Miss Gradon complained about her ‘ horrific’ treatment at the hands of online trolls. Speaking three months ago about the reaction she received after Love Island, she told Radio Aire: ‘There would be so many negative comments.
‘They are commenting on the way you look, the way you talk. They would come up with an opinion of you on a TV show where they’ve watched you for 45 minutes. It was very hard to deal with because you take it like you’re being judged. It can really get into your mind and really affect you. The harsh reality is, it can end up with that person taking their own life.’
Yesterday a close friend suggested Love Island was indirectly to blame for Miss Gradon’s death, as the stress of reality TV and fading fame ‘gives you depression’.
Former Big Brother contestant Sallie Axl, 29, said shows take advantage of young stars and abandon them when the series is over. ‘It’s so short-lived’ she said.
‘There are so many people doing it. And all this sex on TV, no one is going to employ someone who’s had sex on TV. You sell your reputation down the pan, if you want to be a solicitor or a doctor or something, a lot of the time you can’t even get a job.
‘Reality TV has a lot to blame for things like this happening. You go on a show
‘The fame is so short-lived’
then when you leave you are in the limelight with so much going on and it fades and fades. Then you’re left in limbo where you are half a celeb and don’t want to go back to a normal job because of failure and embarrassment that it didn’t work out.’
Miss Gradon’s former boyfriend Ashley Ienco, who dated her for more than a year after she spit acrimoniously from Mr Powell, said: ‘I always tried to help. A lot happened between us but she was an amazing person and the only real love I’ve ever felt for someone. Her smile was infectious and I’ll miss that voice.’
Miss Salmon, who kissed Miss Gradon on- screen on Love Island, said: ‘Isn’t it crazy how someone so stunning, so smiley, and appeared happy, can feel no way out.
‘The world we live in behind social media. I urge everyone to be kind to every person they meet and speak with on social media and in person.’
A spokesman for ITV said: ‘The whole ITV2 and Love Island team are profoundly saddened to hear the news about Sophie, and our deepest sympathies and thoughts go to her family and friends.”
The show’s presenter Caroline Flack wrote: ‘ So very sad. Such a beautiful soul, such a beautiful smile.’