Sophie Gradon's mum has slammed ITV for allowing her daughter to take part in Love Island despite knowing about her mental health issues, and accused the channel of 'exploiting the vulnerable'.
Responding to news of Jeremy Kyle guest Steve Dymond's suspected suicide after appearing on the show, Deborah Gradon said she was 'sickened' that vulnerable people were being allowed to take part in such programmes.
"Exploiting the susceptible, using someone unfairly for your own advantage, imposing on their vulnerability. This sickens me to the pit of my stomach," she tweeted on Tuesday.
" SophieGradon was screened by a Phycologist who Identified she had issues with Mental Health (sic).
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"Producers even ensured her Meds were delivered to the Villa Knowing they could manipulate her and get inside her head.
"When will this misuse of the vulnerable stop, it's the most eveil & puerile form of entertainment (sic)."
The reality star was found dead at her parents' home in Medburn, Ponteland, on June 20 last year.
An inquest held at North Shields Coroners Court on April 18 ruled that Sophie died from hanging after ingesting a cocktail of drink and drugs.
Senior Coroner for Northumberland South, Eric Armstrong, said she had ingested cocaine and enough alcohol to put her two-and-a-half times over the legal driving limit.
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He issued a warning, backed up by US research, that people are 16 times more likely to take their own lives after taking alcohol and cocaine together.
Deborah and her husband Colin refused to attend and disagreed with the verdict, saying a post mortem showed Sophie was suffering from an undiagnosed brain condition that causes irrational thoughts.
They say the post mortem examination showed Sophie had been living with the condition, called Arteriovenous malformation (AVM), that causes an abnormal connection between arteries and veins that has been shown to affect a person’s thinking and reasoning abilities.
They told The Sun : "[The condition] would have had a severe and brutal impact on Sophie. We needed more time to research and talked to a leading psychiatrist and neuroscientist.
"They both unanimously agreed that Sophie’s cerebral and cognitive reasoning would have been influenced by the presence of the AVM in her brain.
The couple say their daughter became convinced she had ADHD and would complain that her "brain wasn't working right".
Sophie had been battling depression and the inquest heard that she'd been taking anti-depressant Sertraline since 2013.
- For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, or visit a local Samaritans branch. See samaritans.org
