Katie Piper exposes vile comments she received from other women following NTA appearance

Katie Piper has responded to nasty troll comments she received about her appearance, following a red carpet interview at the National Television Awards.

The Loose Women star, 42, took to Instagram on Thursday (10 September) to reveal some of the vile remarks towards her, which sadly were made by other women.

Piper was the victim of an acid attack in 2008 that left her with life-changing burns and partial blindness.

Since then, she has forged a successful career and inspired other women as a TV presenter, writer, and activist, and even set up the Katie Piper Foundation, a charity to ensure everyone with burns or traumatic scarring can access personalised, expert-led rehabilitation.

On Tuesday (8 September), she attended the NTAs, looking glamorous in a black sparkling gown and her hair in a long braid.

She chatted with Woman&Home on the red carpet for a video on their Instagram; however, was met with vile comments.

Taking to Instagram, Katie reflected on the situation and told her followers: “I hadn’t planned to do a video, but I just have to because I woke up today, having a really good day, feeling positive. Took my kids to school, you know, fresh year.

“I went to the NTAs the other night. I felt really good. I thought I looked really nice, I felt really pretty.”

The next day, she was going to walk her dog when her phone started ‘popping off’ and she realised that the comments on the Woman&Home video were ‘going mad’.

Piper exposed the trolls by flashing their comments up on the screen, and said: “It’ss just endless like, ‘eurgh, look at her, what happened to her face,’ ‘oh, she’s overdone it on the filler,’ ‘oh my God, why are we talking about the hair, the hair’s not the problem, that face, blah blah’.”

Heartbreakingly, she urged: “And you’re just like, I am a normal person, I am a real person, I’m just out here trying to do my best, trying to live my life, be a wife, be a mum, be a daughter.

I know I’m not beautiful, I know I don’t look like you, I know I’m not the prettiest person on your Instagram.

“And usually I don’t care, like, this is my life, this is the life that God intended for me, and I’m living it to the full, but just occasionally you just feel like… not giving up, that’s the wrong word, but just stopping it all, not putting yourself out there anymore.”

Piper questioned: “It just makes me think, why are you doing this to strangers online? I scrolled through the comments today and I made a mistake. This wasn’t the right thing to do. I started replying to them all, and they’re all women; they’re all women.

“I don’t insult them back; I don’t need to go that low, but I started replying to them all saying, ‘What’s it got to do with you how I look? Why are you policing women’s appearance?’

“What if this was even a choice? Why does it matter to you how I look? And you’re not just damaging me; you’re damaging every single woman that sees these comments.”

She warned: “You’re saying to them, it’s not okay to not to be beautiful, it’s not okay to look different. You’re saying to people, it’s an issue if you’re not symmetrical, if you don’t meet beauty standards. And you are playing a part in creating a nightmare for all other women.”

Piper finished the powerful video by advising people to be ‘careful of the world they’re creating for all of us to live in’.

While Hannah Fernando, the Editor-in-Chief of Woman&Home, said in the comments that the publication ‘has always stood for championing women and today that commitment feels more vital than ever’.

She penned: “To our incredible cover star, @katiepiper_, you are not only a friend of this magazine but an inspiration to us all. Your story is a masterclass in courage, dignity and resilience.

Both personally and on behalf of Woman&Home, I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, deeply grateful for the generosity, warmth and honesty you bring to everything you do.

“We said it on the red carpet, and we will say it again, you are truly beautiful both inside and out. We stand in absolute solidarity with you and unreservedly condemn those who choose ignorance and cruelty over empathy and kindness.”