"She’s an inspiration": Love Island fans fume as Sophie Lee is the first to be dumped from villa

Manchester based Love Isand hopeful Sophie Lee - who is originally from Darwen, Lancashire - was the first to be dumped from the Love Island villa last night.

Fellow Lancastrian, Burnley born marketing executive and children’s entertainer Shakira Khan, had been left single following Monday’s episode, in which American bombshell Toni Laites took her man Ben Holbrough.

Much of Tuesday’s episode was then spent filming 22-year-old Shakira as she went around the villa, trying to find a connection with a new boy.

Unfortunately for motivational speaker and author Sophie, 29, her partner Harry Cooksley was one of three men who stood up for Shakira, claiming they had a better connection with her than their original girls.

After much deliberation, Lancashire lass Shakira picked to couple up with Harry in the end leaving poor Sophie single and thereby dumped from the island.

Fans online were quick to express their disappointment at Sophie’s exit, with many suggesting it was far too soon and quite frankly unfair.

One social media user said: “Dumping on day 2 is annoying,” while another wrote: “I feel that’s too harsh. A dumping so soon seems as if they are desperate to create tension and drama. Sure that’s part of Love Island but the characters and connections haven’t had time to develop. Oh well. Early days.”

Another also said: “This is unfair. Two bombshells coming in tomorrow night, she should have stayed. 24hrs is very short. After going through all the process, you cut her experience.”

Others were then keen to mention what a huge loss they thought losing Sophie was in particular.

The Manchester based star was much talked-about prior to her walking through the famous villa’s door - unlike the usual model/influencer archetype, Sophie was a motivational speaker, author and a body positivity activist.

Sophie, who appeared on ITV's The X Factor in 2017, has been very open about a terrifying experience she suffered during a fire-breathing perfromance when she was 22.

Whilst performing in Las Vegas, Sophie suffered severe burns and facial injuries after an air-conditioning unit blew the fireball into her face.

She remained in intensive care for weeks before a tumour grew in the burned portion of her face.

Sophie eventually overcame her injuries, which left her with facial scars, and now uses her story to inspire others, amassing 110k followers on Instagram.

Commenting on the loss of a great character, one fan said on X: “Petition for Sophie to be sent back into the love island villa an cause a storm, that girl has more about her in her little finger than most of the cast! She’s an inspiration to the younger generation.”

Love Island will continue tonight (June 11) on ITV2 at 9pm.