Sophie Hannah Gradon was an English model and marketing manager. In 2008, she won Miss Newcastle. In 2009, Gradon won the title Miss Great Britain In 2016, Gradon was a contestant on the second series of ITV2's Love Island.
In 2008, Gradon won the title Miss Newcastle. In 2009, she won the Miss Great Britain. Gradon worked as a marketing manager. She was a promoter of the NE1 campaign in Newcastle City Centre, through which she raised money for charities. In this capacity, Gradon successfully solicited financial support from Calum Best for the Great North Run in 2011. Thousands of pounds were raised to send children with cancer on a trip to Crete. Chronicle Live reported that Calum agreed to support this charity after he saw the work Gradon did for the Sara's Hope Foundation. In 2011, Gradon appeared on Sky Sports in support of the campaign, "The Great North Fitness Revolution." She was a contestant on Love Island in 2016. During her time on the reality TV series, Love Island, Gradon began a relationship with barman Tom Powell before coupling up with glamour model Katie Salmon, Love Island first same-sex pairing. In 2018, Gradon was part of a talk on social media and its impact on children. In a March 2018 interview with Radio Aire, Gradon revealed that she was the victim of intense cyberbullying and internet trolls. She reported in the interview:
"It was horrific. I think when you get so many comments on the scale we did coming out of thousands of followers."
She added:
"There are fans and positive comments but people would focus on the negatives. Sometimes I would look for it...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."
Gradon was found dead on 20 June 2018 at the age of 32. A spokesperson for the Northumbria Police reported that there did not appear to be suspicious circumstances and a cause of death was not initially revealed. Officials later stated the manner of death was likely suicide. Her death sparked a response among media outlets, with the organisation of Miss Great Britain and several members of the cast of Love Island expressing condolences. Her funeral was held on 5 July 2018. Gradon's boyfriend, Aaron Armstrong, died by suicide about twenty days after Gradon's death, according to an inquest. In April 2019, Gradon was judged to have taken her own life after taking cocaine and alcohol.
