Love Island fans have praised contestant Sophie Lee for opening up about a traumatic experience that left her with facial burn scars for life.
The 29-year-old motivational speaker and model appeared during the launch of the 12th season of the reality TV dating show, presented by Maya Jama, on Monday (9 June). Twelve girls and 12 boys flew out to the famous villa in Mallorca hoping to find the love of their life.
“I’ve only had one boyfriend. When I was 22 I was in a fire accident,” she told fellow contestant Harry Cooksley. “It made me the woman that I am. It made me learn so much about life and interactions with people and how to be better.”
She continued: “I believe that, to date people, you also need to be in a good place in yourself. That’s why in my early twenties, I think I wasn’t ready to date because I didn’t feel good in myself. I had a lot of self work to do, I had a lot of building my own confidence.”
Viewers shared their thoughts on social media, as one person wrote: “Sophie is an inspiration.”
“What a f***ing woman Sophie on Love Island is, wow,” commented another.
However, they were left displeased after Harry commented that she appeared “a bit much for me” after the vulnerable exchange. Viewers fumed that the semi-professional footballer, gold trader, and model from Guildford “couldn’t handle a smart woman”. However, others reasoned that the revelation may have been inappropriate for a “first conversation” and that the Mancunian may be “too pure” for the show.
Sophie has written a book about the incident called In My Skin, in which she details how a freak accident in her previous role as a fire breather left her with the injuries.
“I was at a charity event and the air con blew the fire back in my face and it hit from my chest to just below my eyes,” she told The Tab. “I’m lucky to be alive.”
The writer’s face and chest were said to have erupted in flames as she was rushed to a hospital to recover, but the injuries initially left her unable to eat or breathe on her own.
“I became an international case study,” she said. “I had to inject liquid nitrogen into the tumour twice and then move on to steroid injections.”
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She says her dating journey has been unlucky so far as she’s only found men “draped in red flags and ‘do not cross’ signs” to date. She’s looking for someone who is “fun, spontaneous, who has a lot of jokes and who is attentive”.
Love Island is on ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm every weekday and Sunday.
