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Love Island pays tribute to former contestant Sophie Gradon on the first anniversary of her death

The reality star took her own life this time last year

Sophie Gradon /Instagram

Love Island has paid tribute to former contestant Sophie Gradon, on the first anniversary of her death.

Through their official Instagram account this morning, they shared a photo of the late reality star, who passed away one year ago today at the age of 32.

They captioned the post: “In loving memory of Sophie Gradon (1985 – 2018), missed but never forgotten.”

Sophie, who starred in the show’s 2016 series, sadly took her own life last June, after taking a cocktail of booze and cocaine.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

In loving memory of Sophie Gradon (1985 – 2018), missed but never forgotten.

A post shared by Love Island (@loveisland) on

Almost a year after Sophie was found dead, another Love Island star commit suicide in March of this year.

Mike Thalassitis, who appeared on the show in 2017, took his own life after consuming cocaine and alcohol.

Sophie and Mike’s deaths encouraged fans of the show to call for better aftercare for Love Island contestants.

And before the new series aired this year, ITV confirmed they will give contestants “enhanced psychological support” and “a proactive aftercare package”.

In a statement, ITV said: “The production team have continued to evolve their processes with each series, as the show’s popularity has risen and the social and media attention on Islanders has increased.”

“The key changes this year are – enhanced psychological support, more detailed conversations with potential Islanders regarding the impact of participation on the show, bespoke training for all Islanders on social media and financial management and a proactive aftercare package which extends our support to all Islanders following their participation.”

Creative Director ITV Studios Entertainment Richard Cowles said: “Due to the success of the show our Islanders can find themselves in the public eye following their appearance.”

“We really want to make sure they have given real consideration to this and what appearing on TV entails. Discussing all of this with us forms a big part of the casting process and, ultimately, their decision to take part.”

“Also, as we are outlining today our welfare processes follow three key stages: pre-filming, filming and aftercare and we are increasing our post filming support to help Islanders following their time in villa,” he said.

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