In an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Strictly Come Dancing star Katie Piper tells how she may not be the world's best dancer but she already feels like a winner. "Post my trauma and having babies, any mum will tell you that you never feel quite the same afterwards. If I’m able to make these changes and have fun along the way then in my eyes I’ve won." The mum of two tells the magazine, “I took part in Strictly as I knew I still had areas in my life where I don’t feel as free and confident and this is one of them. I wanted to use the show as a tool to learn how to let go and feel sexy. I used to feel like this some years ago and would like to get a small bit of it back."
Katie Piper has been busy training during Strictly
She also reveals to HELLO! how her first dance at her wedding in 2015 to husband Richard Sutton would not have scored highly with the judges. "We had a routine to Michael Jackson. It all went a bit wrong but we had a laugh then everyone joined in. Dancing definitely doesn’t come naturally to me but it’s about letting go and enjoying yourself and that’s what I did at my wedding and now on Strictly but this time in front of millions."
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The Strictly star spoke about her experience to HELLO!
"I really do believe in pushing myself and taking on new challenges," says Katie, who has come through the darkest of times and undergone 250 operations since an acid attack nearly claimed her life a decade ago. It left her partially blind in one eye and with severe burns, for which she still receives treatment. "The mind is the most powerful tool you can call on in times of need and I’ve used it many times. I’ve found techniques that work for me – meditation has been a great help over the past two weeks," says Katie, who avoids reading negative remarks about her dancing. "I’ve tried to stop reading comments online because if you believe everything, it makes you feel like rubbish."
Her eldest daughter, four-year-old Belle is a huge fan of her dancing mum. "Belle hasn’t been to rehearsals yet but loves watching me. She has been dancing and spinning around the lounge at home and starting yelling 'Go, Katie,' at the TV. I reminded her that I’m still Mummy, on TV or not!"
Pick up the latest copy of HELLO! to read the full interview, out Monday 8 October