Billie Piper has revealed the real reason she turned her back on music despite being a “genuine” pop star with three number one singles under her belt.
The actress, 41, first found fame with her smash hit Because We Want in 1998, at the age of 15, making her the youngest singer to enter the charts at number one.
However, Billie ended her pop career in 2003 and turned her attention to acting, now stating that she was a “quack” in the music industry.
During an appearance on Friday’s Heart Breakfast, she told host Jamie Theakston: “I came back to acting because I studied acting before I signed as a singer and that was my biggest passion.”
‘I wanted to get back to it, did I feel a bit out of place in the music industry?’
Billie Piper, 41, has revealed the real reason she turned her back on music despite being a “genuine” pop star with three number one singles under her belt (pictured recently from Jonathan’s show Ross).
The actress first found fame with her smash hit Because We Want in 1998 at the age of 15 (pictured), making her the youngest singer to enter the charts at number one.
When asked to elaborate, she continued: “It wasn’t, I really felt a bit chatty, I was a big music fan and could hold a tune, but I guess I never felt like a genuine musician.”
Despite Jamie’s protests, Billie said: “I loved dancing, I loved acting, I loved live shows, but in the end I found the industry to be too exhausting, it was too much, it was such hard work that I had never worked. as hard as I did when I was a kid since’.
After returning to acting, Billie was cast as Rose Tyler in the 2005 Doctor Who reboot before going on to star in numerous television series and films.
He also turned to writing and wrote Sky Atlantic’s I Hate Suzy, as well as writing and directing his own film Rare Beasts in 2019.
Most recently, he played BBC producer Sam McAlister in Netflix’s Scoop, which tells the story of Prince Andrew’s car crash in the Newsnight interview.
Last month, Billie revealed that being surrounded by male music executives in her teens left her feeling “unhinged.”
In a chat with British Vogue, she said finding fame at such a young age caused a lasting impact on her mental health and came to light when she was in her early 30s.
Billie explained: ‘Sometimes I wanted to appeal to them so I could feel safe. Sometimes I wanted to be them because it seemed like they were having a better time than me.
Despite her success, Billie ended her pop career in 2003 and turned her attention to acting, now claiming that she was a “charlatan” in the music industry (pictured in 1998).
After returning to acting, Billie was cast as Rose Tyler in the 2005 Doctor Who reboot (pictured with co-star Christopher Eccleston) before going on to star in numerous television series and films.
Most recently he played BBC producer Sam McAlister in Netflix’s Scoop, which tells the story of Prince Andrew’s car accident.
“It was a period in the 1990s when everything was very, very masculine. “I felt enormous frustration about that and took it into my romantic relationships.”
She recalled: ‘There was something very, very humbling about that moment and about letting go of people who weren’t very healthy for me. Unfortunately, a lot of that has been in relation to men, I guess.
Speaking about how past trauma affected her relationships, Billie reflected: “When you’re 20, there are enough things in your life that you look at them and say, ‘Oh, that’s been a pattern of behavior.'”
‘There was a point where I realized that I had been drawn to take the side of men on a lot of things. I felt incredibly frustrated and angry about it.
‘I felt very unhinged when I was in my early 30s and mentally I was not well. There was something very, very humbling about that moment and about letting go of people who weren’t very healthy for me. Unfortunately, a lot of that has been in relation to men, I guess.
Billie gets controversially married DJ Chris Evans in 2001, when she was just 18 and he was 35.
Last month, Billie revealed that being surrounded by male music executives in her teens left her feeling “unhinged.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Billie reflected on her controversial union with DJ Chris Evans, whom she married when she was 18 and he was 35.
Laurence Fox and Billie (pictured in November 2013) divorced in 2016 after nine years of marriage due to Laurence’s “unreasonable behavior.”
She was most recently dating singer Johnny Lloyd, but the couple quietly split last year after eight years together. They share their five-year-old daughter, Tallulah (pictured May 2023)
She surprised fans when it emerged that they had tied. They tied the knot in a casual wedding in Las Vegas, with just six guests, and just a year after meeting on Chris’s TV show, TFI Friday.
Their 16-year age difference attracted attention at the time, and Billie recalled: “People were shouting things about the age difference at us on the street. Street trolling. I mean, it was actually pretty scary.’
Billie went on to point out that she can’t understand the undying interest in her first marriage.
She reflected: ‘People still ask me about this at parties. Strangers! It was 20 years ago. It makes a little more sense that I’m constantly asked about husband number two (Laurence Fox), but it still bothers me because we’ve been separated for almost 10 years.’
Billie, who previously admitted to being “completely beaten for three years” during their marriage, split from Chris in 2004 and the divorce was finalized in 2007.
Despite having bad experiences with her love life, she revealed that there is no bad blood with Chris, saying, “I’m not someone who thinks all men are idiots, but I was exposed to a lot of things.” Let’s say, and I consider him one of the good ones.’
Following her marriage to Chris, Billie remarried controversial activist Laurence Fox in 2007. She was granted a “quickie” divorce from him in 2016.
The actress shares sons Winston, 12, and Eugene, eight, with the controversial activist and the couple became embroiled in a long-running custody dispute after their split.
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