Katie Piper “almost” feels as if she has “been to prison” after filming her new documentary.
Katie Piper says going to prisons in America was memorable
The 39-year-old TV star is fronting the new two-part documentary 'Katie Piper’s Jailhouse Mums’ about incarcerated mothers in facilities in the US and described filming it as “an intense experience” but a memorable one.
She told HELLO! Magazine: “I almost feel as if I’ve been to prison to myself! It was an intense experience, but it was essential to immerse myself and get to know the women as individual characters. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the people I met.
The 'Loose Women' panellist - who is married to carpenter Richard Sutton and has daughters Belle, nine, and five-year-old Penelope with him - went on to admit that she found it “difficult” to leave her own children at home in the UK but knew it was nothing compared to what her interviewees go through as mothers in prison.
She said: “It was really difficult because you’d spend all day talking about children being separated from their parents, knowing you’re not seeing yours, and I remember feeling a bit guilty.
“I was going to see my children in a week or two, but some of these women are looking at 30 years until they see theirs.”
The former 'Strictly Come Dancing' contestant also highlighted that those women who were able to keep their children with them were in locations with the “lowest reoffending rates” and hopes that her new series is able to "humanise" those behind bars.
She said: “There are only nine prisons in America that have nurseries where your child can live with you.
“We went to one of them and we also saw alternative detox centres with parenting classes. Those were the places that had the lowest reoffending rates.
“I really hope that the series humanises people in prison. Often we read about inmates just as bad people, but it’s in all of our interests that prisoners get the right support and are successfully rehabilitated.”
'Katie Piper’s Jailhouse Mums' begins at 10pm on Wednesday (21.06.23) on W.
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