Billie Piper has revealed the real reason she turned her back on music despite being a ‘bona fide’ pop star with three #1 singles under her belt.
The actress, 41, first found fame with her smash hit Because We Want To in 1998 at the age of 15, making her the youngest female singer to enter the charts at number one.
However Billie ended her pop career in 2003 and turned her attention to acting, now claiming she was a ‘charlatan’ in the music industry.
During an appearance on Friday’s Heart Breakfast she told host Jamie Theakston: ‘I went back into acting because I studied acting before I was signed as a singer and that was my greatest passion.
‘I wanted to return to that, I felt 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 ‘bona fide’ pop star with three #1 singles under her belt
The actress first found fame with her smash hit Because We Want To in 1998 at the age of 15 (pictured) making her the youngest female singer to enter the charts at number one
When asked to elaborate she continued: ‘It wasn’t, I felt a bit of a charlatan really, I was a massive fan of music and I could hold a tune, but I never felt like a genuine musician I guess’.
Despite Jamie’s protestations Billie said: ‘I loved dancing, I loved performing, I loved live shows but I found the industry too taxing towards the end, it was just too much, it was such hard work, I’ve never worked as hard as I did as a child since’.
After returning to acting Billie was cast as Rose Tyler in Doctor Who’s 2005 reboot before going on to star in numerous TV series and films.
She also turned her hand to writing and penned Sky Atlantic’s I Hate Suzy as well as well as writing and directing her own movie Rare Beasts in 2019.
Most recently she played BBC producer Sam McAlister in Netflix’s Scoop which tells the story of Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview.
Last month Billie revealed being surrounded by male music executives in her teenage years left her feeling ‘unhinged’.
In a chat with British Vogue she said that finding fame at such a young age caused a lasting impact on her mental health and came to light in her early 30s.
Billie explained: ‘Sometimes I wanted to appeal to them, so that I could feel safe. Sometimes I wanted to be them because it looked like they were having a better time than I was.
Despite her success Billie ended her pop career in 2003 and turned her attention to acting , now claiming she was a ‘charlatan’ in the music industry (pictured in 1998)
After returning to acting Billie was cast as Rose Tyler in Doctor Who’s 2005 reboot (pictured with co-star Christopher Eccleston) before going on to star in numerous TV series and films
Most recently she played BBC producer Sam McAlister in Netflix’s Scoop which tells the story of Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview
‘It was a period of time in the 1990s where it was just very, very male heavy. I felt a huge amount of frustration about that and I carried that into my romantic relationships.’
She recalled: ‘There was something very, very sobering about that time and letting go of people that weren’t very healthy for me. Unfortunately, a lot of that has been in relation to men I suppose.’
Speaking about how past trauma impacted her relationships, Billie mused: ‘It’s coming out of your 20s, there’s enough stuff in your life to look over and go, “Oh, that’s been a pattern of behaviour.”
‘There was a point where I realised I had been drawn into siding with men on a lot of things. I became incredibly frustrated and angry about that.
‘I felt very unhinged in my early 30s and kind of mentally not well. There was something very, very sobering about that time and letting go of people that weren’t very healthy for me. Unfortunately, a lot of that has been in relation to men I suppose.’
Billie controversially married DJ Chris Evans in 2001 when she was just 18 and he was 35.
Last month Billie revealed being surrounded by male music executives in her teenage years left her feeling ‘unhinged’
Elsewhere in the interview, Billie reflected on her controversial union with DJ Chris Evans, whom she wed when she was 18 and he was 35
Laurence Fox and Billie (pictured in November 2013) divorced in 2016 after nine years of marriage on the grounds of Laurence’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’
Most recently she was dating singer Johnny Lloyd but the couple quietly separated last year after eight years together. They share five-year-old daughter, Tallulah (pictured May 2023)
She shocked fans when it emerged they had tied the knot in a casual Las Vegas wedding – with just six guests – and just a year after meeting on Chris’ TV show TFI Friday.
Their 16-year age gap raised eyebrows at the time, with Billie recalling: ‘People would shout things about the age gap at us in the street. Street trolling. I mean it was pretty terrifying actually.’
Billie went on to note that she can’t wrap her head around the eternal interest in her first marriage.
She mused: ‘People still ask me about it at parties. Strangers! It was 20 years ago. It makes slightly more sense to constantly be asked about husband number two [Laurence Fox], but even then I resent that because we’ve been separated for almost 10 years.’
Billie, who previously admitted to being ‘completely hammered for three years’ during their marriage split from Chris in 2004 and the divorce was finalised in 2007.
Despite having bad experiences with her dating life, she revealed there is no bad blood with Chris, saying: ‘I’m not someone who thinks all men are b******s but I was exposed to a lot of stuff, let’s say, and I consider him one of the good guys.’
Following her marriage to Chris, Billie tied the knot again with 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 pair were embroiled in a lengthy custody dispute after their split.
Listen to Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden weekdays from 06:30 – 10:00 and on Global Player
