Katie Piper: 'How patronising' Presenter opens up on comments since horrific acid attack

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Katie Piper, 35, was left with severe burns after her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch organised for an associate, Stefan Sylvestre, to throw acid over her while he spoke to her on the phone. Now, 11 years after the attack, she has opened up about how some people have reacted to her appearance since. “Not so long ago, people would say to me, ‘You know what I like about you? You still wear make-up and you’re still glamorous,’” she told this week’s Grazia. “It’s like, how patronising, of course I still wear make-up!

“I’ve got terrible bags under my eyes,” Katie continued.

“All these things, they’re not vanity, they’re not frivolous — this is our armour, this is our tool kit and this is what makes us feel ready to

Speaking out about her self-image, the presenter, author and model said: “I think my body confidence is high.

“My body has taken a battering, and it’s always recovered and renewed.

“It’s made me feel in awe of what it can endure,” she added. “To not love your body after going through any of that — what was the point of it?”

Katie was left partially blind in one eye following the acid attack.

In the years since, she has undergone over 40 operations to help fix the damage and has severe scarring over her face and body.

She had dated Lynch for two weeks before he raped her and beat her up in a London hotel room.

A fortnight later, he arranged for Sylvestre to throw a cup of sulphuric acid in her face while he talked to her on the phone.

In 2009, Lynch was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 16 years behind bars for sexually assaulting her and ordering the attack and Sylvestre was given a life sentence with a minimum of six years.

Last August, Sylvestre was released from prison on parole.

Katie has gone on to star in Katie: My Beautiful Face, a Channel 4 documentary which covered her experience of the attack and her recovery.

She has also released several books, including Beautiful and Confidence: The Secret, as well as launching the Katie Piper Foundation, which supports burns survivors and aims to deliver comprehensive burns rehabilitation in the UK.

In 2015, Katie married builder and carpenter Richard Sutton and the couple have two children together, Belle, five, and Penelope, 15 months.

In her latest interview, she told the publication about being conscious of how she speaks about appearance around her children.

“Even though my eldest is still very young, it is important that we’re using the right language and educating her,” she said.

“Things have changed: it’s so easy now to get children’s books with different ethnicities or people in a wheelchair.

“It’s good to have those kinds of conversations in a safe place so that when we go out, she can reference it.”

This week’s GRAZIA Magazine is on sale now.

source: express.co.uk