Latest news with #KatiePiper
Wales Online
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Katie Piper had a sandwich thrown at her by builders who saw her acid attack injuries
Katie Piper had a sandwich thrown at her by builders who saw her acid attack injuries The 41-year-old presenter suffered severe injuries after her former boyfriend Daniel Lynch arranged an acid attack on her in 2008 Katie Piper (Image: ITV ) Katie Piper had a sandwich thrown at her by men when they saw her facial burns. The 41-year-old presenter suffered severe injuries after her former boyfriend Daniel Lynch arranged an acid attack on her in 2008 and has reflected on a harrowing incident in which she had a sandwich pelted at her by men who were initially wolf-whistling her. Speaking to TV star Rob Rinder at the Hay Festival, Katie said: "I'm a very petite person; I had long blonde hair at the time and I was walking down the street with mum going to an outpatients appointment and a white van, I assume builders, were whistling at me complimentarily. "As they came around and saw my face, which is after the injury obviously, and I was wearing a plastic mask, someone threw a sandwich at me out of the window." The 'Loose Women' panellist continued: "But it was that thing that from behind I was one thing to them and what that represents, and when they came out around the front, I was unexpectedly something else. "So it's not natural for that to happen to you. It's not a transition. It's very violent and out of your control." Article continues below Katie discussed a "defining moment" four years on from the acid attack where she finally stopped seeing herself before her injuries when she was dreaming. The activist said: "For the first four years, when I saw myself in my dreams, she was always there: the girl that wasn't burnt. "In any dream – joyful dreams, chaotic dreams, boring dreams – she was there, pre that injury. Something happened four years later, I had a fairly mundane dream and she'd gone and it was in my new reflection in that dream and I woke up and was like, 'Oh.'" Article continues below Piper likened the process of coming to terms with her injuries to the grief of losing a loved one. She said: "It's painful for so long but you just live with it and you don't realise it, and you never get over it but one day, you're able to live with it. "And it must've just been my subconscious letting go."
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
I let my good looks define me - I feel invisible at 46
Someone once told me that middle-aged women make the best spies. The invisibility that descends in your late thirties is the perfect disguise for espionage. Who expects a 46-year-old mother of three to be a spook? Full disclosure, I am not an undercover agent. But I am a mum in her forties with three kids, and feeling invisible is my new normal. It wasn't always this way – in fact, quite the opposite. So I understood wholeheartedly what Katie Piper meant when she said that 'ageing can be compared to a bereavement'. The 41-year-old told the Hay Festival in Wales this weekend that she 'had been reminded at such a young age the currency and power a woman holds when she is considered either beautiful or young' and that her new book was inspired by 'when I was told I was losing my power because I was no longer a young woman'. It's something I can relate to. As a teenager my looks felt like a superpower. I wasn't model quality, but from the age of 14, I realised that my appearance was valued by society, and I let it define me. Back in the 90s, it was perfectly normal for women and girls to be judged purely on their looks. If you were lucky enough to be deemed 'attractive' then it opened doors. Not just the obvious ones like choosing a boyfriend or drawing attention in the street. I remember feeling that my family were proud of how I looked, my friends were admiring and even my teachers were respectful. Sometimes I saw other women being ignored or disrespected because they weren't classed as conventionally attractive, and I felt uneasy. But I never imagined it would happen to me. Looking a certain way made my life easier. I got served quicker and treated more kindly. Lost train tickets weren't a problem, queues were sometimes skipped, extra understanding and help came my way, mostly from men, but sometimes from women, too. This heady, pleasurable feeling of influence seemed to require very little effort, apart from make-up and the right clothes. It made me feel desired but also powerful and in control. I began to rely on my looks so I could thrive in different situations. They felt like a quick route to affirmation and confidence in a teenage world where, despite promises of gender equality, female objectification still reigned supreme. One night I was struggling with mountains of A-Level revision – I always found academic achievement much harder than looking good – and I remember confessing to my mum that I wanted to be a model rather than do all this studying. In reality it was never an option – despite numerous attempts on my part, no agencies actually wanted me – but I was desperate to use my looks as a shortcut to success. Another day, I was upset about a bad essay mark, and cried on the shoulder of a girlfriend. 'You even look beautiful when you cry,' she said, her eyes dancing with amusement rather than sympathy. Her words made me feel like an object being observed rather than someone who just wanted empathy. At university I lacked the banter of my friends, but my looks got me noticed, establishing a status, of sorts. My heart leapt when someone called me 'dream girl' at the pub where I served pints, despite the sexual intent of his gaze. In my small, 90s domain, where conforming to traditional beauty norms was a ticket to social acceptance, I felt palatable and wanted, even if that had an unwelcome helping of sexualisation attached. Harsh criticism of women's looks was an everyday norm in the press, films, TV and day-to-day life during that decade. As I saw girls and women reduced to their sexual appeal, I shuddered at my own good luck. Yet I knew, deep down, that my own 'girl power' was short term – fed by insecurity and sexism. I could have anything I wanted, do anything I wanted, as long as I looked a certain way. Fast forward 12 years. At 30, I'd had a baby, forged a career in PR and survived some big relationship break-ups. My appearance wasn't what it was but there was still some validation up for grabs. Two more children later and I'm happily married, aged 46. I have a freelance writing job, a group of friends I treasure, I love gardening, interiors and fashion, but a big slice of my identity, of how I see myself and believe others view me too, has disappeared. Gone are the wide-eyed stares and general approval. I get those dopamine hits elsewhere – at work, with my kids, husband and friends. But the loss of validation is tough. As Katie Piper said, 'sometimes we know we're losing somebody or something, and it's slow, it's gradual, and when it's ageing, we look down at our hands, we see they look different… everything's changed'. I had allowed my body to define me and underpin my sense of worth. This 'fading' has hurt, but it has forced me to understand that the world values me for much more than just my appearance. And that's the message I'm determined to pass on to my nine-year-old daughter. If she asks, 'do you like my outfit?' I say yes, but it's her story writing, her subtraction skills and her speedy running that I focus on. I want to show her that there are so many ways to be successful and gain recognition as a female – it's not just how you look. I'm relieved that sexism in society is slowly shifting. Although women are still criticised for not being 'hot enough', those reductive attitudes are called out more often. More Trending I want my little girl to know that she doesn't have to look airbrushed or perfect to feel valued. Most importantly, I want her to know that she can – and must – be herself, with all the complexity, the feistiness and the many talents that involves. I'm glad that Piper is now spreading the message that ageing is a beautiful thing. She asks in her book whether 'ageing is the magic key to letting go of other people's expectations… to live how we want to live'. Learning to love yourself for everything on the inside and not just the image on the outside is an important life lesson for every girl and one I wish I'd learned much earlier. A version of this article was originally published on May 23, 2023 Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: 'After nearly dying, I reversed my biological age by over 30 years' MORE: The menopausal content creator with over 350,000 followers: 'Being online is unhinged' MORE: I thought my baby had just moved position – but she was gone
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Katie Piper reveals dine and dash date left her with £740 restaurant tab after doing a runner
Katie Piper has revealed a date once left her with a £740 restaurant tab after running off due to her facial disfigurement. The British author and TV presenter, 41, was the victim of a horrific acid attack set up by her ex-boyfriend when she was 24 - leaving her with severe scarring to her face, neck, chest, arms and hands. Speaking at the Hay Festival, Piper recalled the shocking moment a man she had met in a bar invited her to the famously expensive Japanese restaurant Nobu in central London, before doing a runner. 'We'd met on a night out. I'd had pioneering treatment with incredible results, so when I would go out somewhere with dark lighting, where people were very drunk, often they weren't able to see what I fully looked like,' she said. 'So I met this guy and we messaged for quite a long time. He suggested we go out for dinner. I hated going out for dinner because I had a lot of oesophageal damage and often I'd choke when I ate, so the whole idea of eating in front of someone on a first date was nerve-wracking, but I agreed.' The date took place in summer so it was daylight, the star said, and she realised straight away the man had not realised she had a facial disfigurement when first meeting her in the bar. The date had chosen the dinner location and ordered a three-course meal, Piper added. 'He said, ''I've seen some people I know over there, I'm going to go and say hi to them and I'll be back''. He didn't come back.' Piper, now happily married and a mother-of-two, said she ran through 'ridiculous excuses' as she sat at the table, considering if the man might have suddenly become ill. She didn't have a lot of money at the time - living on disability benefit after the attack - but ended up paying the £740 bill on her own. Shockingly, Piper said the man got back in touch with her years later after seeing her on Strictly Come Dancing, not to offer an apology but to joke: 'We must catch up!' The mother said she wishes she had replied with a more assertive response but simply replied: 'Lol yeah, let's do that. Haha.' Since the attack, Piper has been a fierce advocate for the well-being and inclusion of survivors of burns and traumatic scarring. She believes in the importance of improved after-care, rehabilitation, and a world where scars do not hinder a person's quality of life.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Katie Piper: 'Ageing can be compared to a bereavement'
Presenter and campaigner Katie Piper has told an audience at the Hay Festival in Wales that "ageing can be compared to a bereavement."The former model has had hundreds of surgeries to repair damage to her face and eyesight following an attack on the orders of her ex-boyfriend, which took place when she was 24 in latest book, which is published on Friday, is titled Still Beautiful: On Age, Beauty and Owning Your 41-year-old said: "Women age out of the male gaze. I was ripped from the male gaze at 24. I didn't just become invisible. I became a target for people saying derogatory things." She expanded on her description of ageing being like a bereavement: "Sometimes we know we're losing somebody or something, and it's slow, it's gradual, and when it's ageing, we look down at our hands, we see they look different. "We catch ourselves in the shop window, and everything's changed. Piper, who is also a presenter on the BBC programme Songs of Praise and ITV's Loose Women. said she had recently been asked if writers minded if they mentioned her age."It was shocking, but not surprising. This was because I had been reminded at such a young age the currency and the power a woman holds when she is considered either beautiful or young, and now here I was going through the second phase of youth slipping away and feeling, once again, society's judgement and the label that they were going to put on to me."She said: "I wanted to write this book... to really tell people where I have found myself, not just when I was no longer considered beautiful, but when I was told that I was losing my power because I was no longer a young woman. "Among my peers, I'm not the most beautiful, I'm not the youngest, but I'm one of the most powerful." In the book, Piper writes: "What if ageing is the magic key to letting go of other people's expectations and truly starting to live how we want to live."She told the audience: "It makes you in control of your own destiny. And that scares some people, because if we are no longer insecure if we're confident, if we're not chasing something unpaid, what can they sell to us? What overpriced cream and diet and contraption will we spend our money on? "We really glamorise youth. We talk about our 20s, [as] the time of your life, the best years. Okay, I had a very different 20s than most, because I was in the hospital, but your average 20-year-old, it's actually the time for mistakes... where you're least financially secure, you're least experienced. You don't really have as much confidence to put boundaries in." 'True evil' She said she felt positive about getting older."I'm going to be 42 in October. I'm still incredibly young to many, and old and past it to some. You realise, 'I know who I am.' I have a strong sense of self and is the heyday. This is the time of my life. So I can only imagine what's on 50s and 60s and the decades beyond. I feel excited by that second chapter." Piper, who mentors victims of acid attacks through the Katie Piper Foundation, recounted two stories when she had faced discrimination because of the way she one incident, some men in a van whistled at her when they saw her from behind but then threw a sandwich at her when they saw her face (she was wearing a plastic mask at the time following some treatment) and another time, a first date walked out on her in a London restaurant leaving her to pick up a tab that was more than £ she said: "You need to realise, on the whole, people are really good. Seventeen years ago, when I did that first cutting edge documentary (Channel 4's Katie: My Beautiful Face), what it did is it opened me up to the good side of society. Up until that point, I had seen true evil in mankind, but only in two people (her attackers)."She said if she had to give one message to her younger self, it would be: "If you've ever felt less than... you've hated yourself or felt ashamed, it was never you. It was society, consumerism and capitalism. It was beneficial to someone, somewhere, to hold you down. "Whether that was in a relationship, a corporate company or a brand, it was never you. You were always fine just as you are, and you always will be." More from the Hay Festival Sharon Horgan says she only found confidence after Bad Sisters series twoJacqueline Wilson says she wouldn't return to Tracy Beaker as an adultWhy Succession creator Jesse Armstrong is writing about rich people again
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Katie Piper says man threw sandwich at her after noticing facial burns
Katie Piper has recalled having a sandwich thrown at her by men after they saw her facial burns. The Loose Women host and activist was left partially blind and with severe injuries after her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lynch, arranged an acid attack on her in 2008. She was 24 at the time. Lynch was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years in May 2009. Piper, 41, who has undergone 250 operations since the attack, recently published her book Still Beautiful, about cultivating confidence and the beauty of getting older. She spoke about the book and her life during an appearance at the 2025 Hay Festival, which has partnered with The Independent for a second year. Piper spoke about how people's perceptions of her changed following the acid attack, while in conversation with barrister and television host Rob Rinder. Speaking about aging as a woman, Piper told Rinder: 'People age out of the male gaze, women age out of the male gaze. You stop getting the seat on the tube. They don't open the door for you anymore.' She continued: 'I was ripped from the male gaze at 24 years old, when my friends were still online dating and going to nightclubs. 'I didn't just become invisible, I became a target for people saying derogatory things to me in shops.' Piper went on to recall a harrowing story in which a man threw a sandwich at her, after first cat-calling her from a van. 'I'm a very petite person; I had long blonde hair at the time and I was walking down the street with mum going to an outpatients appointment and a white van, I assume builders, were whistling at me complimentarily,' she said. 'As they came around and saw my face, which is after the injury obviously, and I was wearing a plastic mask, someone threw a sandwich at me out of the window.' Piper said that she could remember it was a BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) sandwich because the bacon got 'stuck' in her hair. 'But it was that thing that from behind I was one thing to them and what that represents, and when they came around the front, I was unexpectedly something else,' she said. 'So it's not natural for that to happen to you. It's not a transition. It's very violent and out of your control.' Piper went on to speak about a 'defining moment' that followed four years after the traumatic incident. 'For the first four years, when I saw myself in my dreams, she was always there: the girl that wasn't burnt,' she said Piper. 'In any dream – joyful dreams, chaotic dreams, boring dreams – she was there, pre that injury. 'Something happened four years later, I had a fairly mundane dream and she'd gone and it was my new reflection in that dream and I woke up and was like, 'Oh.'' Piper went on to compare the experience to losing a loved one, stating: 'It's painful for so long but you just live with it and you don't realise it, and you never get over it but one day, you're able to live with it.' 'And it must've just been my subconscious letting go,' she said, joking: 'I never told anyone that so I decided to tell thousands of strangers in a shed!' Last month, Piper opened up about how the injuries she sustained ultimately robbed her of the chance of having a third child. In 2023, she was trying for a third child with husband Richard Sutton, but the couple had to abandon their plans when doctors told her she required an emergency operation on her blind left eye. 'I had quite a traumatic event with my eye. I had to have a general anaesthetic and you can't be trying for a baby and also be having unexpected surgeries,' she explained. 'We tried again, but it just didn't happen.' In January 2025, Piper announced that she made the decision to be fitted with the artificial eyeball. She shared a video of her appearing to begin her treatment with a medical tool inserted into her eye socket.
