A woman born with a facial difference has urged people to think twice before choosing their Halloween costumes, warning that artificial scars and other features can reinforce negative stereotypes.
Kaylin McLaughlin from Glasgow was born with a facial Tessier cleft, which she says affects "basically the full right side of my face: my eye, my nose and a bit of my lip". Growing up in the early 2000s, she did not see people with physical differences represented positively in the media. She shared her lived experience on This Morning's latest episode (October 22), speaking to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about the unique challenges people with visible differences face during the Halloween period.
Mindful Costume Choices
When asked how she feels about seeing people adding scars and other visible differences to their faces on Halloween, Kaylin urged those celebrating the season to be mindful of reinforcing negative stereotypes.
She said: "You can't control what someone does but I think if I could say anything, it would just be to be mindful because you can put that on and take it back off. We can't, we have to go home and live like this."
"When you're doing that and think it's a joke or it's funny you're reinforcing the age-old idea that having something different is wrong or funny and that it can be mocked and discriminated against. I don't think that we've progressed enough in 2026 as we should have."
Perspective from a Burns Survivor
Kaylin appeared on the ITV show alongside burns survivor Catrin Pugh, who was left scarred after a devastating coach crash when she was 19 years old. Catrin shared her own perspective on popular costumes, saying: "My goal today is to say 'How about think about who that might offend?'"
"And think about if there's a kinder option, think about some characters where you don't have to use an appearance-based thing to be scary. Because we're not scary."
Call for More Representation
The duo also called for more positive representation of people with physical differences in the media. Catrin, who is getting married next year, notably pointed out that she has never seen a bride with visible differences celebrated on screen.
"We want to see things like that being represented because we live normal and regular lives," she said. This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
