Meet the Manchester hopeful Sophie Lee appearing on Love Island this year

29 -year-old Sophie Lee from Manchester was one of 12 original Islanders that entered the iconic Love Island villa last night.

In the first coupling, Sophie, a motivational speaker and author, partnered up with 30-year-old Harry Cooksley, a gold trader and semi-professional footballer.

Before heading into the villa, she was asked by ITV which type of Islander she would like to couple up with.

Sophie replied: “Someone who is fun, spontaneous, who has a lot of jokes and who is attentive. At the moment I’m only finding ones draped in red flags and ‘do not cross’ signs.”

Time will tell if Harry fits that bill!

As her other pre-show question, the Manchester reality star was asked what she would be CEO of if she could.

Sophie said: “I’m the CEO of empowerment. I want women to feel beautiful and validated in themselves and feel their best self.”

During the show, Sophie also opened up about a personal tragedy she suffered in her early twenty’s.

When discussing her love life with new beau Harry, she revealed: “I've only had one boyfriend. When I was 22 I was in a fire accident. 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.”

The incident reportedly happened when Sophie was performig a fire breathing routine and an air-conditioning unit blasted a burst of air towards her causing a fireball to engulf her face and chest.

Delving into the impact that the accident had on her, Sophie added: “I believe to date people, you also need to be in a good place in yourself. That's why in my early 20s, 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.”

Love Island will continue tomorrow (June 10) on ITV2 at 9pm.

Expect new episodes on weeknights and Sundays with Unseen Bits scheduled for Saturday evenings.