Katie Piper finding 'Strictly Come Dancing' to be 'overwhelming' after attacker's release from prison

Katie Piper has said that she’s finding the stress of training for Strictly Come Dancing ‘psychologically overwhelming’.

The campaigner and TV presenter said that she’s juggling her regime with pro-dancer Gorka Marquez with the ‘legal things’ going on in her personal life.

It was revealed last month that Stefan Sylvestre, the man convicted along with her ex-boyfriend Daniel Lynch of the acid attack which left her blind in one eye, was to be released from prison after serving nine years of a life sentence.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, she said: “I have been having lots of things going on in my personal life, legal things, and I think it became psychologically overwhelming for me.

“I get really emotional on Mondays and Tuesdays, it’s always then I want to storm off in a tantrum and cry because it’s a new routine and song, it’s so overwhelming.

“When the lyrics are emotional, that’s tough.”

Piper looked visibly upset this weekend, when she failed to impress judges with her most recent routine, scoring 13 with her paso doble to Demi Lovato’s song Confident.

On finding out that Sylvestre was to be released on parole, Piper said that she hoped Strictly could provide a ‘positive distraction’.

In a statement on Twitter, she said: “I felt it was important to put a message out to my friends, supporters and followers. This is a really difficult time for me. I am trying to come to terms with the decision and this is something I need to deal with.

“Over the past two weeks Strictly has already given me such a welcome and positive distraction from my past. Whilst there is never a good time to hear this news, I am glad I have this new journey to concentrate on. Thank you for your continued support.”

Lynch was jailed for a minimum of 16 years for sexually assaulting Piper, and then instructing Sylvestre to throw acid on her outside a cafe in Golders Green, North London.

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