Love Island UK star Sophie Gradon dead at 32

Sophie Gradon, a British star of the popular TV show Love Island has died, police say.

Northumbria Police said police attended a property in Medburn, Ponteland, in north-east England, about 8.30pm on Wednesday local time to find a 32-year-old woman dead.

Instagram/sophiegradon

Sophie Gradon, star of the UK reality TV show Love Island, has died, according to a post from her boyfriend, Aaron Armstrong.

"There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding her death," the statement said. A report will now be prepared for the coroner."

Love Island attracted millions of viewers when it screened in the United Kingdom when it screened in 2016, according to The Telegraph. From there, it became somewhat of a worldwide phenomenon.

Gradon's boyfriend Aron Armstrong posted on Facebook on Thursday night (NZ time): "I will never forget that smile I love you so so much baby your my world forever and always." (sic).

The reality star's ex-partner Ashley Ienco also paid tribute.

I just genuinely can't believe it, I've never felt so strongly for someone else in my life apart from family we was intense and close and madly in love but if people can stop asking me. I only wanna speak to people who care about me and who cared about her. RIP," Ienco said.

Gradon appeared on series two of the hit show and made history by becoming one half of the first and only same-sex couple to ever appear on the show, according to HuffPost UK.

The bisexual star left the series after 39 days - just two days after coupling up with co-star Katie Salmon, who finished the show in fourth place, with partner Adam Maxted.

Love Island had been watchable on TVNZ On Demand since the end of June last year, but by August had become the website's second-most watched show behind only Shortland St.

After it's success online, TVNZ 2 began showing Love Island at 9.30pm on weeknights. 

The Daily Telegraph, a 162-year-old paper regarded as Britain's "newspaper of record", established its own online section dedicated to Love Island.

It offered "premium content" for paying Love Island enthusiasts, including a first person piece from the show's presenter who said "it's not all about sex".

On the other hand, in one of The Telegraph's many Love Island listacles, a columnist presented "16 things Love Island taught me about sex and relationships". 

WHAT IS LOVE ISLAND ABOUT?

More than 50,000 people applied to be on the show in 2017. Many of the contestants were reportedly chosen based off their Instagram profiles. BuzzFeed reported some contestants were approached on social media to apply.

So, the show is visually very pleasing.

In defence of Love Island, a column in The Independent said it was great because the producers were "playing God". They made no attempt to set up a fair game, or let the contestants find love, Christopher Hooton said.

"If everyone is too coupled up and being dull, they'll put the men in a separate house, flood it with women, tell them 'what happens on tour stays on tour' but then feed back photos of them 'cracking on' (to use Love Island parlance) back to their other halves in the main house (this literally happened the other day). They don't draw the line anywhere," he wrote.

WHERE TO GET HELP

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Your local Rural Support Trust - 0800 787 254 (0800 RURAL HELP)

Alcohol Drug Helpline (open 24/7) - 0800 787 797. You can also text 8691 for free.

For further information, contact the Mental Health Foundation's free Resource and Information Service (09 623 4812).