KATIE PIPER ON
SHE struggles with her breathing, has restricted vision in her left eye, and the tug of scar tissue denies her the full movement of her head.
But what really worries Katie Piper as she prepares for Strictly Come Dancing is that she has no sense of rhythm. “I can’t even clap in time,” she laughs.
Typically, the former model, who has been on a 10-year mission to show happiness runs deeper than scars, does not plan to let that hold her back.
“I remember when my challenge was to walk without a walking frame,” says Katie, who was left with life-changing injuries in a vicious acid attack at 24.
“The respiratory problem makes training a bit harder. I tried to practise some steps and can’t really move my head back because of a band of scar tissue that starts at the top of my head.
“Everyone will be like, ‘Why’s she pulling that funny face?’ and I’ll be like, ‘No, that’s my face!’”
For the author of self-help books, including Confidence and Things Get Better, taking part in the flagship BBC show is another chance to show boundaries are just there to be beaten.
The 34-year-old Bodyshockers presenter, who has daughters Belle, four, and eight-month-old Pea, was the first star officially announced this week to join the celebrity dance contest.
She admits it will be tough. Her injuries include the loss of peripheral vision in her left eye – she was completely blind in it before a cornea transplant.
ELEPHANT
She explains: “It will be hard with my eyesight. If you cover one eye and think you can’t see your peripheral, that is harder with dancing, steps and anticipating your partner.
“I’m like an elephant with no rhythm. When I was practising I was stamping on feet and banging into people. I’ll just have to work really hard at the training.”
That can-do confidence has proved a tower of strength to her legions of fans.
And it is one of the key themes to her latest book, The Healthy Happy Mum Plan – a manual that tackles getting back in physical shape, taking care of mental health, and making motherhood as stress-free as possible.
Just as with Strictly, Katie is no-nonsense about the problems being a mum poses because of her injuries.
Such things as having to sit down and eat carefully – when most busy mums can snack on the hoof – because complications in her throat affect swallowing.
And, of course, that vision problem. “I always smash into the toys,” she laughs.
“I’ll stub my toe about eight times a day, walk into the teepee tent and knock it flying. Everything’s a little bit harder.
“But everyone has reasons things are harder, physically and mentally.”
She has learned not to worry about things she cannot change.
Explaining her message for other mums, she says: “Areas you can’t control, you have to have the wisdom to let go.
“It’s exhausting to try to change something you’ve no control over. If you put all your energy into what you can change, great things happen. If something’s causing you confidence problems, try not to feed it by giving it head space. Let it go.” Katie admits such resilience and selfassuredness has come from the experiences she has been through. She was still a model when, after a brief fling in 2008, ex Daniel Lynch organised the malicious sulphuric acid assault that could have cost her life in revenge for her ending their relationship. He and attacker Stefan Sylvestre are both serving life. But Sylvestre has recently applied to be freed and a Parole Board decision is expected “in the coming weeks”. Katie, who needed 250 operations, has previously told of her battles