Billie Piper described marriage to Chris Evans aged 18 as being 'drunk with an old man'
Billie Piper once spoke about how her marriage to Chris Evans affected her going into auditions, describing it as 'being drunk with an old man'.
The pair met when the singer appeared on TFI Friday, which was hosted by Evans, back in 2000.
They started dating shortly after and married the following year in a ceremony in Las Vegas. Piper - who recently starred in Netflix's Scoop - was just 18 years old at the time, while the radio presenter and was 35.
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The pair split in 2004 when Piper was 21, and divorced in 2007.
Piper, who is perhaps best known for her role as Rose Tyler in BBC's Doctor Who, opened up about being in the public eye from such a young age.
“Fame is awful. It’s gross. It’s such a dark thing,” she told The Guardian. “And it will change your everyday experience of life in a way that is depressing, frankly, in my experience of it.
“When I imagine some of my happiest, and my free-est times, most of them are pre-fame.
“Not to be down on my kids! I’ve obviously had deeply meaningful experiences with my children, and they made me happier than anything, and that’s the truth, but I also really cherish the memories of not being famous.”
The now mum-of-three also revealed what it was like being married to Evans, and the 'baggage' which left a 'lasting image' when she went to audition for roles.
“A lot of it was just tabloid fodder, rather than, ‘Oh, she was a pop star,’" she said.
“It was more, ‘She was a pop star, then she got p*****d for five years with an old man.’ I think that was the lasting image when I walked into an audition room.
"Older man. Not old man. He’s an old man now, but then, so am I."
Discussing their whirlwind romance, Piper said that she 'loved it.'
“Loved that time. Learned so much,” she explained. “Really needed it, after the experiences that I’d had, leading up to that point.
“I felt like I’d actually found a real friend. I guess meeting someone who had experienced [fame] for 20 years, at that level, it was very nurturing. And also very drunken, which I needed. I had a lot of fun during those years.”
Despite their 2007 divorce, the pair are said to have remained good friends.
Following her split from Evans, Piper went on to marry controversial actor Laurence Fox.
They were married for nine years and share two children together, Winston James Fox, 14, and Eugene Pip Fox, 11.
Piper also has a third child, four-year-old Tallulah Lloyd, with her partner and Tribes frontman, Johnny Lloyd, who she has been in a relationship with since 2016.
These days, you can catch Billie Piper on your screen in new Netflix drama Scoop, which portrays the notorious interview Prince Andrew gave to Newsnight which was later described as 'a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion'.
While we saw a member of the royal family say he couldn't sweat and claim he was in a Pizza Express in Woking at the time of some of the allegations, which he later settled out of court, the drama also shows some of the behind-the-scenes work on setting the interview up.
Piper plays Newsnight's Sam McAlister, who secured the interview and later wrote the book Scoops which Netflix adapted into the drama, which also stars Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew.
She's been getting plenty of praise for her performance, with one reviewer saying she 'stole the show'.
Additional words by Bec Oakes.
Topics: Celebrity, UK News, Chris Evans, Doctor Who, Netflix
Joe Harker