Katie Piper has revealed she believes online trolling is similar to “the toilet wall” in school.
The Loose Women star, 38, appeared on the first episode of the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain’s Extraordinary People podcast and shed light on her experience after becoming a victim of an acid attack in 2008.
Katie bravely waived her right to anonymity in 2009 to raise awareness about burn victims and documented her experience on Channel 4’s Katie: My Beautiful Face.
Now, the mum-of-two has explained that going out in public after her attack was “really hard”.
Speaking on the podcast, hosted by Carol Vorderman, Katie said: “When it’s something visual, like a facial disfigurement, going out in public’s really hard.
(Image: Getty Images)
“There were some lovely ways people reacted, the small smiles, a nod of the head, that feeling that as a whole we’re pretty decent people and that’s really reassuring, that helps your mental recovery as well as the physical.”
She went on to say: “I had lost my eyesight, had burns, I’d lost parts of my oesophagus and had internal damage, when you see the words written on the paper that you’re disabled, you must apply for disability benefit, you just ring the DVLA, that feels quite final.
“And when you’re in your twenties; disease, disability, sickness, it’s so sudden, you kind of have to go on a spiritual journey.
(Image: ITV)
“So when you look at what disability is in society, 15 years ago, it’s placing very limited expectations on people and saying you can only be one thing.”
Katie added: “They don’t say that disabled people are attractive or sexy, we don’t say they’re CEOs or trailblazers or ambitious.
“The outside is absolutely changed on me and the inside is being quite battered and challenged but I am still me, you always have your soul intact.”
(Image: Getty Images)
While she may be used to appearing on programmes such as Loose Women and ITV’s Lorraine, the activist and author explained that she can now deal with social media trolling but still feels a moment of dread.
“I do dread doing mainstream stuff like the news, who is anybody to comment on someone’s appearance?” she exclaimed.
The Strictly Come Dancing star fumed: “It’s not up to you to do that!”
(Image: Steve Bainbridge/Daily Mirror)
Katie is often branded as an inspiration to many but winning a Pride of Britain award left her completely speechless, explaining: “I didn’t suspect it all, I was genuinely, totally shocked.
“I think also I felt a bit worried and scared, it was such a big event, it was really lovely that I was allowed to bring not just a plus one but my mum and dad, my partner, my surgeon – he’d never been on a red carpet before.
“We’ve shared awful times together so to be stood on a red carpet together, to be at a nice table, all of my nerves, once I got there, completely disappeared, it wasn’t a judgemental environment.”
Pride of Britain Podcast ‘Extraordinary People’, featuring inaugural guest Katie Piper, launches tomorrow. Episodes will be available weekly on the Global network, Apple, Spotify and Amazon.
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
