Katie Piper

“I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not and I think talking so openly about my story gave me acceptance that it's ok to be me.”

“It makes me very happy that people's perceptions of what's beautiful and attractive are gradually changing.”

“The main reason I started The Katie Piper Foundation was because I had treatment abroad that I wanted other burns survivors in this country to have access to.”

“Writing my first book, 'Beautiful,' was the time that I was able to write the truth of it - that I was despairing at times, that I got depressed and felt like I couldn't cope. Writing became about being honest.”

“The world is more competitive and social media drives this. It's woman against woman when it comes to appearance, possessions and friendship circles.”

“I'm so lucky that I've always been able to laugh about things, even at my very lowest times.”

“If I'm feeling down or depressed, working up a sweat will make me feel like I can really do this - that, in fact, I can do anything. It's like a therapy for me.”

“As well as being my doctor, Mohammad Jawad is so kind and caring and we have a father/daughter relationship. When I left hospital he found out about a revolutionary rehab centre in the south of France and spent his August bank holiday taking me there in 2008 to see it - such a happy time.”

“None of my ambitions were serious as a girl. One week I wanted to be a lawyer, the next a binman.”

“What we put in our bodies can make us feel depressed or anxious, and it's the same for fitness, I think it all joins up in this big circle.”

“I feel like I've lived two or three completely different lives. At 33, I'm quite reflective and have the perspective you get in your old age when you have been through the losses of life.”

“I enjoy social media, but I don't take it as gospel. Yes, it can make me feel insecure if I see my peers doing more than me. You have to remind yourself it's a marketing tool, a facade, but that's easier when you are older.”

“I will continue to need operations and therapy for life. For acid attack survivors, the aftermath is a life sentence.”

“I would encourage anyone to keep a pad of post-it notes by their bed and write down small, achievable goals and celebrate those successes and that will give you confidence to create bigger ones and achieve them.”

“If I'm thinking or feeling something, I have to record it somewhere. If I don't, I worry the thought will be lost and I'll never get it back again. I never self-edit and I don't write in one place or in a special book.”

“My recovery has been backwards, forwards, up and down - and still is.”

“You are always bigger than the problem, the problem can never be bigger than you.”

“My younger self wouldn't recognise me at all. She would think I was quite serious, organised and practical, but I've had to be to run the foundation.”

“My dad and sister are vegetarian and I was brought up as one, but I ate a bit of fish and meat. After the attack my oesophagus melted and I had to have plastic stents put into my throat to rebuild it, so I couldn't swallow and I was fed via a high-calorie drip through my stomach.”

“I was quite lonely because I didn't have a boyfriend or many friends, so I started spending my weekends doing races. Then I progressed to a half-marathon and I actually enjoyed it!”