Love Island's Sophie Lee details life-threatening accident that left her face scarred
9 June 2025, 21:00 | Updated: 11 June 2025, 11:42
The 2025 Love Island star has opened up about the scars she has on her face after being burned in a fire breathing accident.
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Love Island 2025 has officially begun and among the cast is 29-year-old influencer and model Sophie Lee, who was among early rumours for the cast.
While Sophie might be a model and influencer now, her career was once very different as she worked as fire-breather in her early 20s and it was during this part of her life that she survived a near-death experience.
Documenting the experience in her memoir In My Skin, Sophie opened up about what happened during the accident and the inspiring recovery journey she's been on since.
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What happened Love Island Sophie Lee's face?
Aged just 22 at the time, Sophie was performing on stage in Chicago when, she claims, the air conditioning unit blew the fireball back towards her face.
In an interview with Fabulous Magazine, she explained: “The air-con was too strong so when I blew the fire out it blew back to me. It set me on fire.
“I just remember being in so much pain, I blacked out for a little bit. It’s crazy.”
Describing the incident in her memoir, Sophie recalled the traumatising details from the moment it all went wrong, as she wrote: “The whole thing happened in a split second but I can still play it through frame by frame.
“The terrifying sight of the fire hurtling back to me, the scorching feeling on my face, my sharp intake of breath as the fire licked over my skin, starting to smell the unmistakable odour of burning hair.”
She added: “I was on fire for less than 30 seconds, but that was all it took to scorch my skin, changing my appearance, and my life, for ever.”
When Sophie saw her face for the first time after the accident, she said she felt like her life was over. But since then she has learned to love her scars and has even kept some of the scarred skin that fell off post-surgery.
“I didn’t have the heart to throw it in the bin,” she said. “So I found a small Tupperware box to put it in before putting it in the freezer. It’s still there. Next to the peas, no big deal.”
Now Sophie works with the Katie Piper Foundation, a charity that helps rehabilitate burn victims, and uses her platform to stand up for people who don’t “fit in with society’s beauty ideals”.
Love Island bosses were reportedly inspired by Sophie’s story and excited at the prospect of giving her a platform on the show to share her story.
A source told the tabloids: “Love Island bosses are thrilled to give Sophie the platform to discuss her accident and how she’s become comfortable in her skin since.
“The series has always tried to be about more than just looks and Sophie is a classic example of an Islander with real substance.
“Now, Sophie’s in the mix for this year’s cast, with show executives deciding soon if she will be in the original line-up or come into the villa later as a bombshell.”
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