Simon Cowell today became the first patron of a charity set up by a former model who was badly disfigured in an acid attack.

The X Factor judge described Katie Piper as ''brave'' and ''talented'' as he backed her plan to set up a specialist burns rehabilitation centre offering medical treatment and emotional support.

Miss Piper was an aspiring TV presenter when she had sulphuric acid thrown in her face as she walked along a street in Golders Green, north-west London, in March 2008.

She was left fighting for her life after obsessive martial arts fan Daniel Lynch raped her and then arranged for another man to throw the corrosive liquid after she tried to break off their relationship.

The acid burned through all four layers of skin on her face, some spilled down her throat and she was left blind in one eye.

She has undergone more than 40 operations on her face and throat including groundbreaking surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Miss Piper, 26, had five intensive three-week blocks of treatment at the Centre Ster in Lamalou, France.

She credited the daily routine of treatments, including deep tissue massage, physiotherapy, skin-softening endomology machines, hydrotherapy, silicone and pressure garments, as a key part of her recovery.

Miss Piper said: ''I want the clinic to be a place where people can learn to overcome the psychological barriers of living with disfigurement and concentrate on rebuilding their lives.

''The NHS does provide some methods for scar management, but unfortunately cannot provide intense block therapy using all methods under one roof in a rehabilitation environment.''

Miss Piper waived her right to anonymity to feature in a television documentary last year.

Cowell, who contacted her after watching the Channel 4 programme, said: ''Katie is one of the most inspiring people I have met.

''She is brave, talented and determined and I think what she is doing with the Katie Piper Foundation is incredible.''

At tonight's official launch in west London, Cowell joined the charity's three trustees - Mohammed Jawad, the reconstruction surgeon who performed pioneering surgery on Miss Piper at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Ros Ponder, media adviser and television producer, and commercial adviser Martin Dix.

Miss Piper said her ordeal has changed her view of beauty and she aims to offer non-medical advice to burns victims to build up their confidence through hairstyling, make-up and mentoring.

''Beauty used to mean to me being the person with the best figure, the prettiest person walking into a room - that's what I thought beauty was,'' she said. ''But I have realised that is was nothing - it was a false and superficial view.

''I hope by sharing experiences the Katie Piper Foundation can help other disfigured people to build in confidence, to stand tall and feel beautiful too.''

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Lynch and Stefan Sylvestre - who threw the acid - were sentenced to life in prison by a judge at Wood Green Crown Court who described the pair as the ''face of pure evil''.

Miss Piper was joined by friends, family, doctors and other supporters at the event.

''As you know the past two years have been a very intense time to say the least and it's thanks to every single one of you in this room that I am able to stand here in front of you now,'' she said.

Wearing a short Reiss dress and peacock-coloured high heels by Kurt Geiger, she showed the audience a film featuring graphic pictures of her injuries and the progress she made at the clinic in France.

Miss Piper said: ''I believe that I am living proof that disfigurement does not mean the end of your life as you know it.''

She said she was ''extremely excited'' and ''very proud'' that Cowell was supporting the foundation.

Cowell described her as an ''inspiration'' and ''one of the most special people'' he had ever met.

He said: ''I first heard of Katie when I watched this documentary.

''About half way through the documentary I got so angry that these - they are not even people, they are monsters - tried to destroy her life.

''There was a point half way through when you were led to believe that she was not going to leave her house and that her life was going to be ruined.

''Then towards the end it was a much happier ending insomuch as Katie decided that this was not going to destroy her, it was actually going to make her.

''I was really touched by her story which is why I wanted to meet her.''

Miss Piper's mother Diane, 59, who attended with husband David, added: ''I'm so proud of her.

''She's a fighter.''