INTERVIEW - KATIE PIPER
can go through, issues that aren’t always easy to talk about etc.
Let’s talk about the process of writing the book; I write several magazines, which I can find draining… Yes, I bet you do! …But writing a book of this nature, I can imagine it was quite draining, but in parts quite a relief – was it a nice process to go through with your mum? Yes and no, we live around two to three hours apart, so we would get together for some sessions and then other sessions she would sit with a writer on her own and I think there are some parts where she wanted to do that and didn’t want me there for obvious reasons. The parts that we did sit together for were at times nice and cathartic and at times gave closure and looking back on some of our memories of my childhood was lovely, but it was quite hard when it came to doing the final copy read and putting everything together in chronological order, it was actually quite depressing at times, like you said, quite emotionally draining.
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You are so upbeat, that came across the first time I met you and you’re an inspiration to so many, but who inspires you? Who keeps Katie Piper up there and juggling all the things she does?
Like any relationship we have in our lives it can be a rollercoaster and we can go through stages and quite often in
our adult relationships we come back closer to our mother, not necessarily in a mother/daughter way, but in a friendship way
I guess seeing my mum and all she is, as a mum, friend, parent and I think what keeps me going now is my own children because since becoming a parent everything I do is for my children, even if you don’t want to keep doing certain things you do it because you do it for them.
What’s In My Head, your theatre tour, starts in March and is coming to Birmingham, are you a little daunted by being on stage in front of an audience? Theatre is so immediate, unlike television where you are somewhat removed from your audience, they are there and the reaction is instant! [laughing] Yes, it is immediate, no room for mistakes! [laughing] So what will you be talking about? Well rehearsals have been interesting and quite difficult with a nine-week-old baby, but I’m so thrilled and so excited about the tour and I actually think it’s nearly sold out in Birmingham – it’s been really popular! It’s a two-hour show with an interval and it’s like self-help – how to be the best version of you. We also talk about mental health, there’s going to be some serious parts, some mantras and advice, but also dancing and unseen footage and photos, so a real night of entertainment. The audience will get something helpful from it to take away and apply to their own lives.
Do you hope one day your own daughters will pick up the book and realise how they impacted on your life? I do hope that, but I think realistically they will get to their teenage years and think, oh mum you and your boring book about being a mother! [laughing] They may not want to read it and I won’t push it onto them, but hopefully if they naturally come to it, it would be nice!
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What’s the most important lesson you think you can teach your daughters and do you think you answered that within the book? Yes, I think nowadays it’s important for everyone to understand they must have a loud voice for all the right reasons. In Victorian times women should be seen and not heard and all these connotations on t-shirts of girls should be cute and pretty and sometimes it’s important to be loud for the right reasons and to be informed, educated and speak up and I think more and more as society we are encouraging them to do that, which is so important and I hope that shines through the book!
From Mother to Daughter: The Things I'd Tell My Child, published by Quercus, is available from all good bookshops and Amazon.
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