Who is Katie Piper, is she married and does she have kids?

Who is Katie Piper, what happened to her and does she have a husband and kids?

Many people recognise Katie Piper for being a regular panelist on Loose Women.

But after Katie revealed fellow panelist Janet Street Porter confused her with singer Billie Piper, giving her the nickname 'Bill' during show meetings, it appears fans are wanting to know more about the ITV daytime show star since she joined the panel in July this year.

Who is Katie Piper?

Katie Piper is an English writer, activist, television presenter and model. She is from Andover in Hampshire where she lived with her parents.

Katie, 38, originally trained as a beautician after leaving school before following modelling and TV presenting roles. She was subjected to a horrific acid attack in 2008 but she hasn't let the attack define her, and has since gone on to become a published author and a TV presenter.

Towards the end of 2009, Katie set up a charity called 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 she received, such as the after-care scheme undertaken in France, to be more widely available to patients in Britain.

Katie recently launched her new book A Little Bit of Faith: Hopeful Affirmations for Every Day of the Year but faced a backlash over her appearance from trolls online and Katie addressed the issue in a video message and open letter.

Is Katie Piper married?

Katie Piper is married, her husband is Richard James Sutton who works as a carpenter. Katie moved in with Richard following completion of her documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, which saw her move out of her family home to live alone in London.

The pair met through mutual friends and speaking about the early days of their relationship, Katie told MailOnline, "James was chatty, witty and looked me squarely in the eye. He never once mentioned my burns, and because he didn't, I didn't either.

"He didn't even stare at them, so I didn't feel self-conscious. He had me relaxed and buzzing with confidence."

In December 2014, Katie announced that she had got engaged to Richard and the couple got married on 6th November 2015.

Speaking about the proposal, Katie previously said: "It was quite a surprise actually, we got engaged a couple of weeks before Christmas so it was a really nice end to a year in my life I never thought I’d be lucky enough to experience, so yes, I feel really privileged and lucky."

Does Katie Piper have kids?

Katie is a mum to two daughters - on 14th March 2014 she gave birth to her first child Belle Elizabeth, now aged seven. And she gave birth to her second child, Penelope Diane, now aged three, on 13th December 2017.

Katie previously confirmed that she wasn't planning on having any more children, she said, "I don’t know if I have enough in me to dedicate to another child.

"Initially my husband really wanted a boy but I think their sex is irrelevant because you can have a tomboy girl who’s into football, the sex doesn’t determine the personality."

Katie keeps their identity private on social media.

However, the new mum did say that she could change her mind once her two little girls are a bit older.

"I’m only seven weeks post-birth so maybe if you ask me in two years I might have changed my mind", she said.

Katie has also spoken out on how she explains her scars to her children.

What happened to Katie Piper?

In March 2008 Katie Piper was attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch and an accomplice Stefan Sylvestre, causing major damage to her face and blindness in one eye.

In the weeks leading up to the attack Katie started a relationship with Daniel Lynch after the pair began messaging on Facebook.

But just two weeks into their romance, she started having doubts and he later attacked her in a London hotel room.

Katie then went back to her flat in Golders Green and two days later, Lynch demanded she go to a nearby internet cafe but it was a trap as Lynch had arranged for accomplice Stefan Sylvestre to wait outside her flat and throw sulphuric acid into her face.

Katie was rushed to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for emergency treatment as the acid had severely burned her face and blinded her in her left eye.

She was put in an induced coma for 12 days and had to undergo skin graft procedures.

As a result, she had to have pioneering surgery to restore her face and vision.

Both attackers were convicted and given life sentences but in 2018, one of the attackers was released after serving nine years in prison.

Since her horrific attack, Katie waved her anonymity in 2009 in order to raise awareness about acid burn victims. Her experience was documented in the Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face part of the Cutting Edge series.

More recently, Katie had an unexpected hospital stay after she choked on some food. She told her Instagram followers, it "led to spasms in my oesophagus, which meant it closed up, meaning I couldn’t swallow even my own saliva and ended up in A&E for an emergency procedure on my oesophagus (not the way to start a week)."

But Katie has since recovered, and joined her colleagues on Loose Women to chat about her latest ordeal.

Loose Women is aired on weekdays on ITV from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.