Katie Piper has opened up and revealed the only thing that helped her confidence following her traumatic acid attack.
The 40-year-old, who now hosts her own breakfast show, was the victim of a horrific acid attack in 2008.
The attack left her with severe injuries to her face and body, including serious burns and blindness in one eye.
Speaking to Women’s Health UK, Katie explained how, during those years where her face was constantly changing through surgery, her hair was the only thing she could control.
Speaking to the publication, Katie explained: “My face was changing after I was burnt, and the only thing I had control of was my hair, and it became my crown.”
“My hair was the only way I could communicate and express to the world how I was feeling.”
Katie was attacked in March 2008 by an obsessive ex, who had arranged for another man to throw sulphuric acid at her in a London street.
Both men were later jailed for life.
The TV host was lucky to have survived, but there was an agonising road to recovery ahead to rebuild her face and her life.
Her injuries have required more than 400 operations since that day.
Katie, who was only 24 at the time, was an aspiring presenter, but following the attack she was encouraged by her parents to move back home to Hampshire.
Refusing to give up on her dream, the mother-of-two pushed for greater diversity in the TV industry.
She went on to create two more personal documentaries with Channel 4, write a autobiography, a series of self-development books, newspaper and magazine columns, and set up the Katie Piper Foundation, which provides support for burns survivors.
For the first two years following the attack, Katie had to wear a clear plastic mask on her face.
She said she didn’t want the mask to stop her from “going to work” and she wanted to get off “disability benefits”.