Latest news with #KatiePiperFoundation
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Love Island 'signs up' model who survived accident and life-threatening burns
Sophie Lee, who survived a devastating fire-breathing stunt that left her with life-altering injuries is now reportedly being lined up for the next series of Love Island A woman who once fought for her life after a devastating on-stage accident may now be stepping into the spotlight for a very different reason - to find love on Love Island. Sophie Lee, a Manchester-born dancer-turned-model, endured a life-altering ordeal in 2019 while performing in Chicago. Just 22 at the time, Sophie was performing a fire-breathing routine when a powerful air conditioning system blew a fireball back into her face and chest. 'The air-con was too strong so when I blew the fire out it blew back to me. It set me on fire,' Sophie told Fabulous Magazine. 'I just remember being in so much pain, I blacked out for a little bit. It's crazy. It happened in front of everyone and I had to get on with it as professionally and quickly as I could. As soon as I got into the ambulance, I was in bits." The injuries were catastrophic. Alone in the U.S., Sophie spent a month in intensive care, relying on machines to stay alive. 'That was a scary, scary time. I couldn't breathe by yourself, I couldn't eat, I couldn't really see, it was scary,' she said. 'I was pretty out of it but on day two I looked in the mirror and just cried." As she recovered, Sophie faced the emergence of a facial tumour resulting from the burns, which transformed her appearance permanently. But from that trauma came a rebirth - one that now has her put her in the run for reality TV fame. No longer the young woman clinging to life in a hospital bed, Sophie, now 29, has built a career in beauty and fashion, rising as a sought-after influencer and winner of the 2023 Beauty Awards' Influencer of the Year. She's collaborated with major brands, become an ambassador for the Katie Piper Foundation, and even authored a memoir titled In My Skin. Her remarkable comeback has reportedly drawn the attention of Love Island producers, who are currently assembling the cast for the upcoming season launching June 9. 'She's in the mix for this year's cast, with execs deciding soon if she will be in the original line-up or a bombshell,' said a show insider. Sophie is a gorgeous girl and a powerhouse of a woman who has overcome everything life has thrown at her. Just like Tasha Ghouri 's amazing time in the villa where she raised awareness for the hearing impaired, Love Island bosses are thrilled to give Sophie the same platform to discuss her accident and how she's become comfortable in her skin since.' Despite the show's reputation for superficiality, the insider said: 'Love Island has always tried to be about more than just looks and Sophie is a classic example of an Islander with real substance.' ITV hasn't confirmed the full cast yet, but anticipation is growing - the show's twelve previous seasons have generated a staggering two billion streams on ITVX. As for Sophie, her focus isn't on fame, but purpose. 'Life since the accident is definitely something I didn't expect because I just see myself as someone who went through something and thought my story could help others,' she has said. 'My aim was never to get awards or receive that type of attention. With the platform I have now, I feel like I have not only a responsibility to others but a responsibility to myself to be a better person everyday and to always be evolving." 'If people were to take a message from my story I'd say that beauty is always skin deep and your life is perfect just as it is,' she added. 'You just need to be yourself and accepting of life's roller coaster so love your perfectly imperfect life.'
Metro
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Katie Piper reveals heartbreaking baby decision after surgery
Katie Piper has revealed that an emergency surgery has forced her to give up her desire to have a third child. The 41-year-old presenter and activist suffered life-long injuries after an acid attack back in 2008. Since then, the presenter has tirelessly fought to raise awareness about facial disfigurements and tell her story. While filming her new TV show Locked Up, the Loose Women star spent time with a jailed mothers at New Orleans' Parish Prison. She explained that the experience made her want to try for a third baby with husband Richard Sutton after hearing the heartbreaking stories about prisoners who are missing their children. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Katie revealed: 'So many women missed their kids [in prison]. 'It started to make me think, 'This is my last chance to have another baby, I'm going to be 40. And if I don't do it now, I never will.' 'I was turning 40 in the October so I said to my husband, 'If we want another baby, let's do it now,' and we started trying.' However, Katie was then rushed into hospital for an emergency operation on her eye. The campaigner told the publication: 'You can't be trying for a baby and also be having unexpected surgeries. 'So that scuppered that and we had a break. We tried again, but it just didn't happen.' Katie considered IVF, but after enduring over 250 operations since the 2008 acid attack, she couldn't face more hospital appointments. 'My eye surgery made me realise I don't want to do IVF,' she explained. 'I'm done with medical things and hospitals. I didn't think it would be good for me.' Katie recently revealed she suffered vile abuse from prisoners while filming the upcoming series, telling Radio Times: 'I go in with lived experience – as a woman, a mother, a daughter, a victim of crime. Some of my story is worn on my face. 'That was an advantage and meant the women probably trusted me, but some of them shouted stuff like, 'Hey lady, are you addicted to Botox?' or 'Slow down on the plastic surgery.' They didn't know what had happened to me.' She added: 'We're all one bad day away from being locked up. You don't know what's going to happen to you in life and who's going to harm you – and how you're going to react when somebody harms you.' The presenter's ex-boyfriend, martial arts expert Daniel Lynch, received a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum of 16 years for instructing Stefan Sylvestre to throw acid on her. More Trending Sylvestre received a life sentence for the attack in 2009, and was told he would have to serve a minimum of six years. He was released on licence in 2018, but was recalled to prison in 2022 after breaching his licence conditions. Katie later released a documentary titled Katie Piper: My Beautiful Face in 2009. View More » She also launched the Katie Piper Foundation, which helps other burns victims, for which she was awarded an OBE. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix is about to release truly wild film about 'raw meat influencer Liver King' MORE: 'I attempted Britain's biggest robbery worth £350,000,000 so I could renovate my house' MORE: 'I drove 18,000 treacherous miles from UK to South Africa for touching reason'
Daily Mirror
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Katie Piper's heartache after vile messages from bullies 17 years after acid attack
Katie Piper has revealed she's been the victim of cruel trolling as some have mistaken her acid attack scars for cosmetic procedures - telling her to 'lay off the plastic surgery' Almost two decades on from being the victim of an acid attack, Katie Piper says she still gets strangers mistaking her scars for cosmetic procedures, with some even telling her to 'lay off the botox'. While filming her recent TV series, Locked Up In Louisiana, Katie visited a prison in New Orleans, and faced a wave of verbal abuse from its female inmates over her injuries. 'Some of them shouted stuff like, 'Hey lady, are you addicted to Botox?' or 'Slow down on the plastic surgery',' recalls Katie, 41, during a new interview with Radio Times. She adds, 'They didn't know what had happened to me.' In 2008, Katie was the victim of an attack orchestrated by her ex-boyfriend, where he instructed a man to throw sulphuric acid at her face - leading to the model losing sight in one eye. The man, Stefan Sylvestre, was given a lifetime sentence for the attack, while Katie's ex-boyfriend was sentenced to 16 years in prison for planning the attack and for rape against Katie. She has had over 400 surgeries to repair the damage to her face and eyesight since. The mum-of-two, who decided to get an artificial eye earlier this year, has since become a spokesperson for other victims of burns and began the Katie Piper Foundation, a charity to help others impacted, a year after her attack. In 2021, she was made an OBE for her services and charity work. Now, Katie says that her past experiences earnt her the trust of prisoners in the New Orleans facility while filming for the upcoming show. However, the experience wasn't all positive as many accused her of having surgery for cosmetic reasons. Sharing that she managed to relate to the prisoners on a deeper level while filming, the Loose Women panelist continued, 'We're all one bad day away from being locked up. You don't know what's going to happen to you in life and who's going to harm you – and how you're going to react when somebody harms you.' Katie's experience with the prisoners isn't the first time she's been the victim of abuse for her scars, after her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 left her to deal with horrific comments from some viewers. 'I got some really horrible abuse, it was awful. I was told 'You look like a monster' by someone one night. It's so cruel. Then someone else said, 'Thank goodness for make-up.,' she told The Mail On Sunday. But maintaining a strong exterior, Katie reiterated at the time that she was just 'so glad to be alive' following the attack. Now a regular on the Loose Women panel alongside her new role as a presenter, Katie has been married to carpenter Richard James Sutton since 2015. The couple share two children, ten-year-old Belle and Penelope, six. Katie's new four-part series, Locked Up In Louisiana, comes after several other documentary-style shows fronted by the star, including Katie Piper: Jailhouse Mums. The show is set to air on 27 April on UKTV's channel U.
