Billie Piper admits she struggled to hide her ‘wild’ side during Doctor Who years
The actress, who played Rose Tyler in the sci-fi series, admits she found the pressure of being the face of a family show ‘really hard and annoying’
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Billie Piper has revealed her secret turmoil at battling to keep a lid on her ‘wild’ side when she landed a part in BBC One’s Doctor Who.
The actress, 38, said her appearance on the family show put her in an ‘uncomfortable position’ having just escaped the immense pressure of being a teenage pop sensation.
The revelations came as Billie spoke to former co-star David Tennant about their time on the sci-fi series together for his latest podcast.
While David admitted he felt ‘like a pop star’ when the duo found themselves catapulted to fame in the much-loved show, for Billie the attention wasn’t so welcome.
Billie, who experienced that type of mania before, said she found the scrutiny she was receiving again ‘annoying’ and ‘really hard.’
“Starting Doctor Who reminded me about that,” she told Tennant. “The sort of pressure and responsibility was a big part of it because I was in my early twenties and quite wild. And then you’re the face of a family show. I found that really hard.”
“Because you’d sort of been there before?” asked Tennant.
“You become this thing to people and you don’t really have any part in that,” Billie explained. “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.”
Billie signed up the revamped BBC Show in 2005 with David joining her as Christopher Eccleston’s replacement from 2008 to 2010.
During her chat with David, Billie described the ‘dark place’ she found herself following her whirlwind years as a pop star.
“I was just so tired. If I’m honest, I was really burnt out,” she admitted. “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,” she joked.
Billie and the DJ tied the knot in Las Vegas following six months of dating when she was 18 and he was 35.
Despite the controversy their union caused at the time, Billie was happy to admit they had an ‘amazing time together.’
“I imagine it’s what your uni years feel like. Sort of reckless, but you’re learning a lot. 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.”
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