Georgina Cooper, the British model who took the internet by storm when she was seen in Bon Jovi’s music video at 15, died a fortnight ago. She was 46. Her friends confirmed her demise on Instagram on November 8. According to The Daily Mail, she succumbed to a blood-brain hemorrhage attributed to long Covid.
Cooper was on the Greek island of Kos at the time. She was most popular for her front tooth gap. Dean Goodman, her former agent, told the outlet:
“She loved Greece and told me that she was going back with her new husband, but she has tragically died there a fortnight ago.”
Georgina Cooper, London’s “original gap-toothed girl”
The Daily Mail has also revealed that the model was on Kos with her husband, Nigel when she fell sick. The mom-of-one was reportedly rushed to the island’s main hospital, but upon examining her, doctors decided to call for an air ambulance to fly her out to Crete instead.
Per People Magazine, Georgina Cooper remained in the ICU for five days before succumbing to her ailment. Her body was flown back to England on the week of October 28. Dean Goodman continued:
“Georgina had been unwell during Covid and had developed some health problems and had been in and out of hospital. But she had plans for the future. She had just married and was looking forward to her life. Everybody is devastated. She was a genuine superstar.”
Cooper ventured into modeling at 13 when she was third at the Elite Look of the Year contest in 1992. Her mother had signed her up at the time, and it was there that Premier Model Management spotted her and decided to take her under its wing. The agency is renowned for having signed Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington, among others.
Notably, she was first propelled to fame during the height of the “Cool Britannia” wave in the 1990s. Fellow model and Premier Model Management owner Carole White paid her respects, per WWD,
“She was a walk-in and she was so much fun. When she was young, she made a lot of money and she had this very edgy streak that was of the time. Everyone found the gap between her teeth quite amazing.”
By 15, she was featured in Bon Jovi’s music video, and that same year, she began working with the late iconic photographer Corinne Day. She started running around in the same circles as Parfitt, O’Connor, and Kate Moss. At the time, she was one of the most popular faces and was christened as London’s “original gap-toothed girl.”
In Day’s Diary, a documentary, Georgina Cooper reflected on what it was like stepping into the industry at the age she did:
“I was so young at the time I didn’t really understand how influential the work we were doing was until I got older and people would compliment me on the work we did together.”
Georgina Cooper married Nigel this June in Maidstone, Kent. According to WWD, she left modeling in the early 2000s to focus on her only son, Sonny.
Edited by pshmueni
