The support was constantly there, and does not stop now

confided in her after appearing on the show. She said: “She was deeply depressed after Love Island and they didn’t give a f***. “I’m well aware of the demons she was battling, but I can’t help but feel angry at them when it’s something she spoke about so often, something she pointed at as the catalyst for feeling as low as she did. “She told me she didn’t feel that there was anyone who understood how she felt in the aftermath of it and it was a comfort to her that I did from my own experiences. “There are additional factors but I just feel so strongly and conclusively that she couldn’t handle that show and the aftermath and shouldn’t have been on it.” Jasmine said Sophie had been much happier before appearing in Love Island. “In the years before it I only knew her to be a happy person. It [Love Island] was just not a good thing. Which makes me sad because she really thought it was going to be and wanted it badly for a long time.

“She was looking for a way for a while to get a foot in the door and when Love Island came around it seemed like a dream come true, but it didn’t work out that way for her.”

Jasmine, who rose to fame as a finalist on Channel 5’s Make Me A Supermodel in 2005, said Sophie’s true self came across on TV. “She came across like the sweet girl she was and was loved by her fellow housemates and by the public. They showed her true colours, which were beautiful.”

Jasmine claims Sophie, who entered in the show’s first same sex coupling, with Katie Salmon, faced a backlash because of her sexuality.

She claimed: “There were people close to her who made her feel very ashamed for getting involved with another female on TV and that was difficult for her to feel like she’d disappointed people she cared about.” Jasmine said Sophie had been

“financially stressed out”. She said: “She had big expectations for what life would be like after. She did get opportunities after and embraced them but it just wasn’t what she thought it was going to be.” Spelling out the dangers she thinks people coming out of reality shows face, Jasmine went on: “You have regrets about your behaviours and you realise you’re stamped forever with this reality TV brand on you that causes all kinds of complications. “She couldn’t handle it.” Paying tribute to her friend, Jasmine added: “She was a strong independent woman. It’s possible to be strong and fragile at the same time. “She was just in the grip of depression and lost perspective. It’s a heart-breaking outcome.”