In the time between my leg breaking and me deciding to go
for amputation, I just kind of felt a bit like a shut-in.
You can say what you want, do what you want, be who you want,
and we don't care.
I would say this is probably going to be the biggest makeover
I've ever had, and I think it's been a long time coming.
Just after I turned 20, I literally took a step and my leg snapped.
It turns out that I'd broken both bones in my lower leg.
What followed that was seven years of pain and not being able to walk.
My leg never healed properly within that time.
I had a lot of surgeries - a lot.
I decided that I didn't really want to do it any more,
so elected to have my leg amputated.
In the time between my leg breaking and me deciding to go for amputation
I feel like I didn't live as your average 20-something.
I just kind of felt a bit like a shut-in, and it's a lifestyle
I'm still trying to get myself out of.
I feel like most people discover who they are in their 20s,
and on some level I feel like I had that taken away from me.
I just want to be able to feel like who I feel like on the inside
on the outside, and I need the help to get there.
The whole point of these makeovers
are to make people comfortable in their own skin.
What brings this whole thing on, why would you like a big makeover
from me today? What I've been through in the last two years,
it's felt like it's all been about the leg and all been about that.
And it's not the only part of me, it's not all I'm about.
Do you feel ready now that it can not be the only thing about you?
100%. I bet you have a lot of situation with how people
perceive you now. People look at me quite a lot, um, like,
whenever I walk down the street, people have a look.
So what sort of colours are you attracted to in the hair?
I've always loved blonde hair.
It's just something I wanted to try out.
It's different to my natural hair colour, but it's still, like, work appropriate.
But I've never really quite had the confidence to just...
..go for it. Because blondes, blondes get attention.
Well, if they're staring, may as well give them something to stare at.
It's going to be blonde. Yes. Very blonde. Yes, OK!
THEY LAUGH Let's do it!
I think what's really important with this look is that we go blonder
around the face, cos I imagine that when you tie your hair back...
Well, you're a brunette... Yeah. ..aren't you?
And there is SO much dark under here.
Yeah, I've got a bit of work to do on you, girl, I'm not going to lie.
But it is possible.
So, I think I had four or five surgeries before the amputation
and every time I was, like, right - this is the last one,
we're getting there now. And it was never the end of it, really.
How tough was that decision to say, right,
I'm going to get my leg amputated?
I always say to people, it was, um,
a horrible decision to have to make, but ultimately it was an easy one
for me. Like, don't get me wrong, it's hard, like, my life is never
going to be easy.
It's really exhausting, I cannot get across how tiring it is
lugging a prosthetic leg around all the time.
Life is very different. Life's difficult. Um...
You know, I take a limb off at the end of the day.
There are things that are not very easy about it.
I think a lot of the time I do struggle more than I let on.
I sometimes feel like I can't say that because I never want anyone
to think I've regretted this.
Every now and again it's still really weird to me
that this is forever, like, you know, I'd like to think
I'm going to get married and have children and do all those things.
But, like, I don't know that that's going to happen.
But I know that, regardless of what does happen,
I'm going to have one leg while I'm doing it.
All right, then,
where does relationships fit in on all this, then?
Um, I've never actually had a boyfriend, so it's just...
It's never been a priority in my life.
It's an area of my life I've always been under-confident in.
Since the whole situation with my leg, I feel like that's got worse.
Um, I've been single throughout all of my 20s, and that is because
my confidence is very much reliant on, oh, what if someone doesn't want
to be with a girl who's got all these issues going on?
Every time you open your phone, you're hit with this image
of what everyone expects a woman to look like.
That gets to you.
I wanted to be OK with myself before I started trying to be OK
with someone else, and I think for a long time I wasn't.
I am so proud to know this girl. Everything she's been through.
It's just that one thing, the love, the relationships.
And if I can help her get a little bit closer to that,
then that would be so beautiful.
So, how do you feel about the new look giving you the confidence
to, you know, go out there, flirt? VICTORIA LAUGHS
Probably not very successfully. But, yeah, I think it'll be good.
It's like the final kind of piece in the puzzle, I guess.
So, talk me through what your wardrobe revolves around.
At the moment, I'd say it's just a bit of a mishmash of everything.
I have a lot of clothes from when I was a teenager still,
so I feel like I haven't fully gone past all of that, but I think
most my clothes are probably work clothes. SHE LAUGHS
I always look the same, like, I think I've had similar hair
and similar clothes for a very long time.
I just think that I could do with a refresh. Vicky 2.0.
With the leg, how has it changed how you get dressed, how has it changed
your wardrobe, the pieces in it, like, shoes, for instance?
I could definitely do with some help with shoes, because I have
very specific limitations on which ones I can wear and heel height,
and, also, I didn't wear shoes for like seven years,
so I have no idea, like, what's in and what isn't,
cos I haven't been paying attention to it.
You can't be wearing the same clothes as when you were a teenager,
however nice they are, and to find that distinct, capsule style,
I can help with that.
So, talk me through a look that you would, like, love to rock.
Um, I absolutely love co-ords, so I like that that's fashionable,
and that it's stayed in style for a while as well.
I really enjoy that, so I like suits.
Well, the thing about the suit trend is that it's really strong.
So, although it's sexy and feminine, it's representing a really strong,
bold, boss-like version.
I do love a suit. Like, when all those women are like walking
the red carpet and they're wearing those tuxes,
I think they look incredible.
I also kind of like it when people are a little bit more OTT,
so, Katherine Ryan's amazing, anything Real Housewives,
I like how over the top they are. I don't care, this is who I am.
Bossy but glamorous. That would be, like, my ideal, yeah.
I've never quite had the confidence to try it, though.
SHE LAUGHS
I've actually managed to achieve, by some miracle,
a really cool ashy blonde, which is going to be so gorgeous.
I've never had the courage to go full-blown blonde, and I think
it's partially cos I worry what other people would think.
Today, I want to take you out your comfort zone. Yeah, mm-hm.
All right.
And I really like the length towards the front, and I think
it really elongates your face fantastically. Yeah.
But I'd like you to have a bit of a stronger look. OK.
So, I'd love you to come a little bit shorter in this back area here,
around one side here. Yeah. I want to show your ear off,
and I actually want you to go quite forward with it here. Yeah.
Which I think it's going to look really, really beautiful. Yeah.
I'd very much like it just to be a little bit shorter,
so it's more styled than just kind of...this.
How are you feeling, seeing more blonde?
Do you think it's going to make you feel more confident,
do you think it's just great to feel different? I just feel like
it's because I've actually finally had the confidence to go for it.
That in itself is probably going to make me feel better.
Oh, Victoria's just so beautiful.
She's a banging canvas, so just to really enhance her
and really push her confidence - THAT'S my job today.
Do you usually wear make-up yourself? Yeah, I love make-up.
I really like that, like, you know, it's a form of art, really.
Yeah. And I really like how people can use it to express themselves.
I'm not very good at doing anything in between.
I always feel like I either look like I'm wearing every piece
of make-up I own... PAIGE LAUGHS
..or I look like I haven't slept in like three days.
Whenever I try out a new eye make-up look, I second-guess it,
like, it's just part of who I am.
So, I don't think I've ever had a situation where I've looked
in the mirror and my inner voice has gone, yeah, you look amazing.
I'm not great at contouring, I've never really got the knack of that.
We are going to give you a beach-ready contour.
So, you're going to be all bronzed-up.
What I'm going to do is use a powder to contour.
It makes it a lot easier for you. OK.
So, this softens it up a lot more, instead of having a harsh line.
And I like to take it up to the temples.
So, can you see the difference it's already made here
between this side and this side? Yeah.
I feel like in my life I haven't made a lot of choices
that are solely for myself, and this could be something
that's just for me. You know, hopefully when I look at it
in the mirror I'll love it, and I'll think,
you look good today, Victoria. SHE LAUGHS
That would be nice.
I really hope that her new look is going to make her feel
as beautiful as she really is.
OK, Victoria. Open your eyes
in three, two, one.
I'm going to cry!
PAIGE LAUGHS Yes! That's amazing.
I think after this I might feel a little bit more confident
in the dating world. I mean, I'm still going to suck at flirting,
the hair's not going to change that, but I'll give it a go, probably!
You're beautiful! Thank you.
Aww!
I didn't even know I could look like that. Look at you!
This whole experience has been amazing. Everyone here is lovely
and I think I'm still in shock a little bit.
SHE LAUGHS
I hope Victoria's look makes her enjoy being stared at
and not something that she has to turn her head away from.