She shocked viewers and her fellow Loose Women panellists last April when she revealed her morning routine sees her get up as early as 5am to go running each day. And Katie Piper, who shares daughters Belle, 10, and Penelope six, with husband Richard Sutton, admits she isn’t fazed by the freezing-cold temperatures nor the early starts, in fact she finds it motivating.
As she poses for our photo shoot, Katie, 41, tells us, ‘There’s something powerful about getting it done while the world’s asleep. I go for a run most mornings at 5.30am with two women on my road, we only go for 30 minutes and just chat all the way. I never wake up saying, “Yay, 5am”, but you get past that dread and, at the end, there’s a smug feeling of, “Wow, I’ve done it!” I get home, chuck my clothes in the wash, shower, wake the kids, and I haven’t eaten into my routine. Before you know it, it becomes a habit.’
Though preparation the night before is key. ‘We always wear headlights, which make us look sexy,’ she laughs. ‘For motivation, I treat myself to cute running gear, I’m shallow in that way. Even though I’m running in the pitch black where nobody gets to see my nice outfits, it still makes me feel good! I’m in bed by 10pm, and lay out my sports bra, trainers and socks the night before and even a banana. I’ve got a closet full of clothes and I want to fit into them, plus I love feeling and looking good. At 41, this is the best I’ve ever felt!’
And the star, who has been married to Richard since 2015, reveals running with her husband helps to fuel their romance too. ‘Rich and I run together, but if we do a race, he just runs off! We are definitely competitive; he always wants to be better than me… but he’s not,’ she laughs. ‘It’s nice for our relationship because as life has changed for us, it becomes our little date. It’s a place where we can connect that’s not about the kids, logistics or home. It’s totally separate, and it’s really important to have that in our relationship.’
Meanwhile for Katie, looking after her health is about more than aesthetics, it’s a priority. The star suffered facial burns on her face, neck and chest and blindness in one eye after going through a horrific acid attack in 2008. It led to a long recovery to rebuild her face and her life, with her injuries requiring her to have more than 400 operations since the attack. She admits she wants to feel great inside and out, and for the sake of her children too.
She says, ‘I’ve called upon my body to do great things, and I have to return the favour and look after it. I’ve been in situations, and still am, where I can’t control certain things about my face and body, so if there’s bits I can control then I’m all over that. I want to be in the driving seat and give myself the best shot at life.
‘Exercise helps me with anxiety too. My kids are really young and I work full-time, and I don’t want to be tired at the weekends. I want to be able to chase them, run up the stairs and commute to work. I can’t do that if I’m lethargic, addicted to sugar and struggle to run 5k.’
She adds, ‘I’ve really got into weightlifting and it’s paying off. The other day on the way back from school, my youngest got tired and asked me to carry her scooter, her school bags then she wanted picking up too. I thought, “Actually, no problem because this isn’t any more than what I deadlift!”
‘When it comes to diet, I used to always be a porridge person in the morning, but now I’ve switched to eggs and I don’t feel a slump mid-morning. Sometimes I fast and just have mint tea, water and coffee all morning, then around 11, I’ll have eggs. For dinner, I rotate salmon or chicken, and I’m not scared of carbs – I love pasta and Shepherd’s pie.’
But like most of us, Katie admits she doesn’t always feel so confident. She says, ‘Everyone would think my down days would be related to burns or disfigurement, but they’re not, some days I just feel fat, short or untoned. It’s OK to feel a bit rubbish, I just don’t let it consume me. I’m not always disciplined, I still love my chocolate and treats. When you have children, a lot of your leisure time is on the sofa when they’ve gone to bed, and all you want is wine and crisps!’
Though she’s thriving in her forties, appearing as a regular panellist on Loose Women and hosting her weekend breakfast show on ITV, Katie admits she wants to change the rhetoric on ageing, especially after the tragic passing of Dame Deborah James, known as ‘Bowel Babe’, who died from bowel cancer in 2022 aged 40.
She says, ‘I do often think of Bowel Babe and how much she wanted to live, and how young she was. I found that people attached a sense of dread about me turning 40 – they asked whether I’d mind if they printed my real age. I thought, “Even if I’m 80, I’m still living and that’s incredible!”
‘There’s definitely a group of women now who are showing that if you look after yourself you can exude confidence and vibrancy, just look at Pamela Anderson going into her 60s. We have connotations of ageing women as being downtrodden and elderly, which is crazy, whereas older men get to be ‘the silver fox’. On Loose Women, I work with Dame Kelly Homes, she’s phenomenal. She’s still got a six-pack as well as strong arms. I have to remind myself she’s retired and in her fifties. Strong women like her inspire me!’
She adds, ‘I’m not scared of ageing one bit. We can think our twenties are our prime, but actually it’s the time to make all your mistakes and not feel bad about it. There is so much happiness in getting to your 40s and knowing who you are.’
Katie is a brand ambassador for Garmin. She wears a Venu 3S GPS smartwatch to track her health and wellbeing.