Zara McDermott will investigate the death of a Dorset teenager in a three-part documentary for BBC Three.
Zara McDermott is fronting a three-part documentary about the death of a Dorset teenager
The former ‘Love Island’ star will front a trio of programmes, titled 'Gaia: A Death on Dancing Ledge' - which will begin airing weekly on 25th July - looking into the heartbreaking circumstances of the 2017 death of 19-year-old Gaia Pope-Sutherland and with help from her loved ones, will “tell her story”.
The 26-year-old television personality said: “When I first heard about the disappearance of 19-year-old Gaia on the news in 2017, I was immediately struck by her story. She and I were the same age. I saw Gaia’s face on the news for days and days after this, and it really struck a chord with me. A young woman with the world at her feet, yet her life was over before it had even begun. I began diving deeper into Gaia’s story, alongside her brave family, and I uncovered a huge amount in the year and a half I spent down in Dorset. This young woman needed a voice, and I wanted to tell her story.”
BBC bosses admitted they were “delighted” to be shining light on the “incredibly important” story with Zara - who has already made hard-hitting programmes with the channel like ‘Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn’ and appeared in her former ‘Made in Chelsea’ boyfriend Sam Thompson’s Channel 4 investigation into ADHD earlier this year- and hope it sparks “change”.
Clare Sillery, the Head of Documentary Commissioning “We are delighted to give a platform to this incredibly important and timely documentary series and for Gaia’s story to be front and centre. It follows on from the hugely poignant subjects that Zara McDermott has delved into already in her filmmaking for the BBC and looks at whether enough was done to protect Gaia and other young women and girls, exploring the impact on those closest to Gaia. We hope the series will contribute to a very important conversation about what needs to change in the future.”
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