Billie Piper has recalled how she got ‘completely hammered for three years’ with ex-husband Chris Evans when she was feeling burnt out from her teen pop career.
The actress, 38, married the radio host, 54, in 2001 when she was just 18 and he was 35, with the couple separating three years later and divorcing in 2007.
Speaking on this week’s David Tennant Does A Podcast With… podcast, Billie said she had an ‘amazing time’ with Chris and likened their relationship to being in ‘your university years’.
Relationship: Billie Piper has recalled how she got ‘completely hammered for three years with Chris Evans’ when she was feeling burnt out from her pop career
Recalling how she desired a more normal life after finding fame as a teen pop star, Billie said: ‘I would say I was in a dark place and just ready to have a bit of a normal life, whatever that meant for me. I was just so tired.
‘If I’m honest, I was really burnt out. I also wanted to have some freedom. I wanted to stay at home and learn how to cook properly and do what felt like healing things. Also, I went and got completely hammered for three years with Chris Evans.’
David then asked her about her marriage to Chris, with Billie describing the relationship as ‘very loving’.
She said: ‘We had a really amazing time together, you know? I imagine it’s what your uni years feel like. Sort of reckless, but you’re learning a lot.
History: The actress, 38, married the radio host, 54, in 2001 when she was 18 and he was 35, with the couple separating three years later before divorcing in 2007 (pictured in 2001)
‘It was an incredible time and not to undermine our relationship because we also had a very loving relationship. It wasn’t just, oh we’re getting, going out, getting f****d. We had a very caring, loving relationship.’
Billie added that Chris also gave her valuable advice on ignoring criticism, citing his words of wisdom to her when some doubted a former pop star was the right choice to be cast in sci-fi series Doctor Who, where she worked alongside David.
Billie said: ‘I didn’t pay much attention to it. He taught me how to not do that. And then, with Doctor Who, I had a sniff of it, but I didn’t really know.
‘Of course, we didn’t have smartphones, so you weren’t constantly being reminded… So I just went for it. I wanted to prove myself as an actress. That was my goal. I wanted to prove it to myself, to my family and to the dream I had as a child.’
Following her split from Chris, Billie went on to marry actor Laurence Fox who she shares sons Winston, 11, and Eugene, eight, with the couple divorcing in 2016. Billie is also mother to daughter Tallulah, 21 months, with boyfriend Johnny Lloyd.
Elaborating further on the burn out she felt following her pop star days, which saw her reach the top of the charts at just 15 years old, Billie said whenever people would see a glamorous photo of her, she often felt miserable in them.
Memories: Billie said she had an ‘amazing time’ with Chris and likened their relationship to being in university (pictured in 2001)
She said: ‘Every time there’d be a picture of me looking completely groomed and manicured within an inch of my life, I can tell you I was completely unhappy and starving and dark on the inside. And I haven’t brushed my hair since… I really have rejected that stuff.’
Asked by David if she was able to ‘take in’ the level of success she was experiencing at such a young age, Billie admitted she has only come to terms with it recently.
She said: ‘I don’t think you are. I’ve been talking about this more recently and I think I’m only just coming to terms with a lot of those things that happened to me in my teen pop star years.
‘I think it’s deeply unnatural to experience such highs at that age. I think it gives you a false sense of power. I think it’s very confused and not something I’d want for my own kid.’
However, Billie added that she does not have any regrets about her days as a pop star, saying: ‘Not at all. None of it. I don’t regret that time.
‘I can’t regret that time, really. I don’t think that would be very helpful… I wish I had done some things better and I wish other people had done some things better, but I don’t sit there at night feeling really angry and regretful.’
Honest: Recalling the burn out she felt as a pop star, Billie said whenever people would see a glamorous photo of her, she often felt miserable in them (pictured in 1999)
Billie and David discussed their time working on Doctor Who together where he played the lead role and Billie played his companion Rose Tyler.
The actress said the buzz that surrounded the series was similar to how it felt at the height of her music career, remembering how crowds would show up to watch them filming
She said: ‘I’d been there before and it’s an uncomfortable position for me. I’ve never really liked that. You become this thing to people and you don’t really have any part in that.
‘And so you have to behave a certain way or at least try to, and that’s quite annoying. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it means that you can’t be yourself entirely. And it means that you become incredibly guarded. And for me, reclusive, always.’
David told his former co-star he thinks he ‘survived’ his increasing level of fame that came with the show thanks to Billie’s help.
He said: ‘I’ve often said in the, in the intervening 15 years that entering into that madness… and particularly that loss of anonymity, which I had not really experienced before…
Co-stars: David Tennant told Billie he believes he handled his increasing fame from Doctor Who better with he help
‘Because I had you to go on that journey with, I think I survived it much better than I might have done… You knew what it was to lose that layer of skin. It was very helpful to be on that journey with someone who understood what it was.’
Billie found critical success this year with the Sky series I Hate Suzie which she co-created with Lucy Prebble.
The former Doctor Who star plays an actress whose life is thrown into turmoil after compromising photos of her are leaked.
Billie also wrote, directed and starred in a film called Rare Beasts last year and told how she has enjoyed having more creative control over the projects she works on.
She said: ‘I think I’ve always wanted to write and direct. I probably wasn’t ever in a position of… I wasn’t as confident.
‘I did just get to a point with the acting where there were things I really love, but those opportunities or roles are few and far between.
Hit: Billie found critical success this year with the Sky series I Hate Suzie which she co-created with Lucy Prebble (pictured in 2019)
‘I think it makes sense nowadays that, if you have something to say as an artistic person that you do it yourself.
‘That seems to be the world in which we’re living now. I found it hard in the end to just be an actress for hire who wasn’t considered for certain parts because I wasn’t in the group of the five actresses that get cast for absolutely everything in this country. That p****d me off.’
Asked if she plans to continue to develop her own projects, Billie said: ‘I hope so. I hope I can continue to do it and I hope we can all continue to work. I just don’t know how it is going to work with bloody Covid.’
Following the huge success of I Hate Suzie, Billie admitted she has never felt more content with where she is in her career.
She said: ‘Professionally, I feel the most satisfied I’ve ever felt. I feel like I’m on a more personal journey myself that feels really meaningful and unending.
‘Professionally, I feel like, this is great. I’m doing work I really, really care about with the people I really care about. Talented people who are also really nice. I feel safe with these people.’
David Tennant Does A Podcast With… is available on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers. A Somethin’ Else and No Mystery production.
In control: Billie also wrote, directed and starred in Rare Beasts last year and told how she has enjoyed having more creative control over the projects she works on (pictured in 2019)