Katie Piper
Kate Elizabeth Sutton is an English writer, activist, television presenter and model from Andover, Hampshire.
In March 2008, her ex-boyfriend raped her and stabbed her several times in the arms. Two days later she was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend and an accomplice, causing major damage to her face and blindness in one eye. Piper underwent pioneering surgery to restore her face and vision. Both attackers were convicted and given life sentences. In 2018, one of the attackers was released after serving nine years in prison.
In 2009, Piper gave up her right to anonymity in order to increase awareness about burn victims. Her experience was documented in the 2009 Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face part of the Cutting Edge series. It has subsequently been sold internationally.
Piper later appeared in multiple follow-up series for Channel 4, released a best-selling autobiography, and had a regular column in weekly magazines. She also presents the Channel 4 television series Bodyshockers about members of the public about to undergo body-altering procedures and those who regret procedures they have had. Her main work has been for the Katie Piper Foundation, which she founded to help victims of burns and other disfigurement injuries. On 13 August 2018, she was announced as the first contestant for that year's Strictly Come Dancing. In September 2020, she joined the BBC One programme Songs of Praise as a presenter. In July 2021, she became a panellist on Loose Women.
Early life and education
Piper was born as Kate Elizabeth Piper on 12 October 1983 in Andover, Hampshire, to David and Diane Piper and attended Harrow Way School and Portway Junior School as a child. She has an elder brother, Paul, and a younger sister, Suzy.After leaving school, Piper trained as a beautician, aiming to build on her fondness for fashion and beauty.
Early career
Piper subsequently began a career in modelling, taking part in various fashion, glamour and promotional photoshoots, including modelling for national newspapers. She also began work as a promotional model: appearing and carrying out publicity duties at live events, such as working as a ring-card girl at martial arts fixtures.Piper also conducted a career as a digital television presenter, working principally on web-TV shows and features, and on small digital television channels, primarily in the shopping and live-chat fields. As her career began to develop, Piper moved away from her family home in Hampshire, and began to live with friends in a flat in Golders Green, North London.
Assault and acid attack
Daniel Lynch, a martial arts enthusiast who had been tracking Piper's media and modelling career, met her through Facebook. The two first met in person in Reading, Berkshire, where Piper had been working, and initially Piper was pleased with the relationship.Two weeks into their relationship, the couple booked into a hotel in Bayswater, following a meal out. In the hotel room, Lynch raped and beat Piper, threatened to cut her with a razor and hang her, and stabbed her several times in the arms. After eight hours at the hotel, they drove back to Piper's Golders Green flat. Piper was treated for her wounds at Royal Free Hospital, but withheld the nature of the incident from the doctors and police, because she was afraid of Lynch.
Piper received numerous phone calls and apologies from Lynch. On 31 March 2008, two days after the initial attack, Lynch persuaded Piper to go to an internet cafe to read an email he had sent to her Facebook account. Luring Piper to this location was a ruse, as he had given her details to Stefan Sylvestre, who identified her on Golders Green Road. Wearing a hoodie to obscure his identity, Sylvestre approached Piper, who thought he was going to ask for money, and then threw sulphuric acid at her face. Piper later said: "When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain."
The acid attack was caught on CCTV and Lynch and Sylvestre were arrested. Lynch received two life sentences, with a minimum of 16 years to be served. He had a previous conviction for pouring boiling water over a man. Sylvestre received a life sentence, and was told he would serve a minimum of 6 years. Sylvestre's parole application for release was approved in 2018. In 2022, it was reported Sylvestre had breached the terms of his parole on numerous occasions, and had allegedly fled the UK that August.
Treatment and recovery
Immediately after the attack, Piper ran into a local café, where an ambulance was called. Piper was treated in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where her treatment was led by plastic surgeon Mohammad Ali Jawad. The acid, some of which Piper had swallowed, blinded her in her left eye, and caused partial thickness and full thickness burns. The surgeons completely removed the skin off Piper's face, and replaced it with a skin substitute, Matriderm, to build the foundations for a skin graft. This procedure was the first of its kind to be done in a single operation.Piper was put into an induced coma for 12 days. She has been through numerous surgical operations to treat her injuries, and wore a plastic face mask for 23 hours a day, which flattened the scars and helped retain moisture. As part of her care from the National Health Service, Piper was treated at a clinic in Southern France. The treatment she received there was designed to break down scar tissue and prevent skin contraction. Subsequent to the attack, Piper moved out of her London flat and returned to Hampshire to live with her parents and younger sister Suzy.
Personal life
Near the end of 2009, she established a charity, the Katie Piper Foundation, aimed at raising awareness of the plight of victims of burns and other disfigurement injuries; the charity also campaigns for the specialist treatment Piper received, such as the after-care scheme undertaken in France, to be more widely available to patients in Britain.Following her recovery and the establishment of the Katie Piper Foundation, Piper again moved out of the family home and returned to living alone in London, a process documented in episodes of Katie: My Beautiful Face; she later moved to live with her partner Richard Sutton, a carpenter. On 14 March 2014, she gave birth to their first child. In December 2014, she announced her engagement to Sutton. They married on 6 November 2015. On 13 December 2017, she gave birth to their second child. Piper turned to Christianity after the attack.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Channel | Notes |
| 2009 | Katie: My Beautiful Face | Channel 4 | Documentary |
| 2009 | 60 Minutes | Nine Network | Interview |
| 2009 | The TV Show | Channel 4 | Discussion |
| Unknown | Live From Studio Five | Channel 5 | Interview |
| Unknown | Woman's Hour | BBC Radio 4 | Interview |
| Unknown | BBC Breakfast | BBC One | Interview |
| Unknown | This Morning | ITV | Interview |
| 2009 | Alternative Christmas Message | Channel 4 | Message about Piper's experiences |
| 2011 | Alternative Christmas Message | Channel 4 | "Just Be Yourself" |
| 2010 | 20/20 | ABC | Interview |
| 2011 | Katie: My Beautiful Friends | Channel 4 & OWN | Documentary |
| 2012 | Katie: The Science of Seeing Again | Channel 4 | Documentary |
| 2012 | Hotel GB | Channel 4 | Participant |
| 2013 | The Secret Millions | Channel 4 | Participant |
| 2013 | Gok Live: Stripping for Summer | Channel 4 | Participant |
| 2013 | Celebrity Deal or No Deal | Channel 4 | Box-opener |
| 2014–2015 | Bodyshockers | Documentary | - |
| 2016–present | Never Seen a Doctor | Channel 4 | Presenter |
| 2018 | Strictly Come Dancing | BBC One | Partnered with Gorka Marquez and was the third to be eliminated. |
| 2020–present | Songs of Praise | BBC One | Feature presenter |
| 2021–present | Loose Women | ITV | Panellist |
| 2021 | Car SOS | National Geographic | Guest |
| 2022–present | Katie Piper's Breakfast Show | ITV | Presenter |
| 2022 | Celebrity The Wall | BBC | Contestant |
| 2022 | Celebrity Antiques Road Trip | BBC Two | Herself |
| 2023 | Katie Piper's Jailhouse Mums | W | Presenter |
| 2025 | Richard Osman's House of Games | BBC Two | Contestant |