Katie Piper has opened up about her 'empowering hair transplant' after suffering an horrific acid attack.
The mum-of-two, 39, who has been awarded an OBE for charity and burns services, spoke about her procedure on Loose Women today.
As the panel were discussing hair transplants, Katie revealed she'd had the operation after her attack.
"I've actually had a hair transplant and it's quite an invasive procedure," she shared.
A stunned Nadia said: "I never knew that," while Judi Love looked on in shock.
Katie continued: "Because I lost my hair through an act of violence, my hair transplant was really empowering for me to say: 'I'm bringing it back in my terms."
Asked by Nadia whether the procedure is "quite a big deal", Katie agreed it was.
"On the back of my head I have a panel the size of a post box of skin and hair removed," she revealed.
"You have stitches in the back of you head. You lie there for 13 hours, you have every individual hair done. There's a lot of down time."
As she listened to the horrifying description, Nadia told her friend she'd had "no idea" what she'd been through.
Katie was attacked on the orders of her obsessive former boyfriend Daniel Lynch. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years and cannot be considered for release until 2025.
The attack left the star needing 400 operations to treat her burns.
In her victim impact statement, Katie said heartbreakingly: “When the acid was thrown at me, it felt like I was burning in hell. It was an indescribable, unique, torturous pain.
“I have lost my future, my career, my spirit, my body, my looks, my dignity…the list goes on. All I am left with is an empty shell. A part of me has died that will never come back. This is worse than death."
The inspirational presenter's attacker is currently on the run from police after being recalled to jail for breaching his licence conditions.
Stefan Sylvestre was paroled in 2020, 11 years after the sick assault, and has been warned he faces more time in jail after going AWOL while on licence.
In October, he was in the process of being recalled to prison for breaching his conditions when he went on the run form police.
A Probation Service spokesman said at the time: “We are urgently working with the police to bring the offender back to prison where he’ll face longer behind bars.”
