Billie Piper's VERY tumultuous romantic history - from 'drunken' first marriage aged 18 to messy split from Laurence Fox as the star returns to Doctor Who

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

Billie Piper sent fans into meltdown when she was revealed to be the next Doctor Who - but it is perhaps unsurprising that the star, who has cemented herself as a UK television legend, landed such a quintessentially British role.
Viewers have seen the actress, 42, evolve her range from being a pop star to tackling powerful roles on the screen - from playing the Newsnight producer who secured Prince Andrew's infamous interview in Scoop to a high class proustite in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
And among her roaring success and breaking down stigmas for women in the industry - including reportedly starring in the longest solo sex scene on British TV with her character in I Hate Suzie pleasuring herself for seven minutes and four seconds - the star's turbulent love life has too been publicly documented.
Billie was only 18 when she first wed presenter Chris Evans, then 35, in 2001, which she has described as being drunk 'for five years with an old man'.
The former child star said she had a lot of 'baggage' to deal with when she moved into acting after her music career fizzled out.
'A lot of it was just tabloid fodder,' she told The Guardian. 'Rather than "Oh, she was a pop star" it was more, "She was a pop star, then she got p***ed for five years with an old man." I think that was the lasting image when I walked into an audition room.'
The couple, who had a 16 year age gap, split when she was 21 and divorced in 2007, but remain close friends, she has claimed, hailing their relationship as a happy experience.
'Loved it. Loved that time. Learned so much,' she added. 'Really needed it, after the experiences that I'd had, leading up to that point. And 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.'
She was thrust back into the spotlight when she starred in Doctor Who alongside Christopher Eccleston and then David Tennant until she left her permanent role in the show in 2008 - a show that will now see her return in the titular role.
Around that same time, Billie was highly praised for her equal parts raunchy and nuanced portrayal of a sex worker.
Based on the real life blog and books of Belle de Jour (a pen name), in ITV's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, the actress played a fictional character called Hannah Baxter, who racks in extra cash through he secret side-hustle.
Many commended her performance as a successful university graduate who turns to the career for promise of more money and control over her finances, but others felt the show 'glamourised' the work.
Speaking about the role to The Telegraph in 2008, she expressed: 'We've only been exposed to the drug-fuelled, sex traffic side – but the fact is, there are middle-class, cultured, well-read women who take part in this job. They're able to emotionally disconnect when it comes to sex – which most of us can't do. I can't.'
Billie added: 'We watch The Sopranos – Tony is a murderer and yet we sympathise with him.
'He's brutal, yet we love him. But when a woman lies on her back and earns money, it upsets people. It's a scary subject, but the fact is, it happens.'
Also brewing during this peak of her career was a romance with actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox - with the pair getting married in 2007.
They have two sons, but since 2016 appear to be embattled in a messy split aftermath, which has seen the ex GB News host slam his former wife for alleged 'outright lies' after she claimed co-parenting their two sons was 'enormously difficult' amid his numerous scandals.
Billie who shares Winston, 12, and Eugene, eight, with Laurence finally broke her silence on the toxic split last year, in an interview with British Vogue, six years after their divorce.
Following its publication, her ex accused Billie of being untruthful in a lengthy social media post and said while 'not being perfect', he'd done his best to put his children first.
He previously spoke about their parenting arrangement in 2022, claiming Billie was using their children as 'weapons' and that he'd been denied access to seeing them.
Laurence has also accused Billie of taking him to court 'over a dozen times' since their split, making them both spend money which should be 'going towards their children's futures'.
She tied-the-knot with Laurence in a low-key parish church ceremony on New Year's Eve in 2007, after a few drinks in the local pub.
They were married in a 50-minute ceremony at a village church near their £750,000 home in Eastbourne, West Sussex, with the actress wearing a formal, low-cut wedding dress in ivory with a flash of pink.
It was Billie's former husband Chris and his new wife, Natasha Shishmanian, that made the guest list somewhat unusual.
The presenter was also the first person to visit the newly-married couple's home, with the trio chinking glasses in a cordial toast before Chris drove to his own country pile, just a few miles away.
In 2010, Billie spoke about their relationship, admitting they had aimed for 'thespian couple' ideal of only one person working at a time.
Yet she confessed: 'But we've failed at that already – we're so selfish, we couldn't even make a year.'
Billie added the pair had also invested in a place in London as well as their cottage in West Sussex, as she'd begun to feel isolated, admitting: 'It was getting a bit "Sylvia Plath" down there.'
In 2012, Billie in an interview also admitted that her husband wasn't a fan of her popular sultry TV role as a call girl.
Speaking to Evening Standard, she explained: 'You're never going to be going, "Woo-hoo, you go and have sex, and have a wonderful time!"
'You're never going to do that, whether you're an actor or a window cleaner.'
Years later, and despite being a regular to on-screen nudity, Billie also expressed that she actually finds getting her kit off on set 'annoying'.
The actress in 2016 told ES Magazine that she was rarely offered a script that does not contain at least one raunchy scene.
'What's annoying is that they are fun roles, if you can remove the sex. It's the sex that makes it annoying,' she added. 'Otherwise they are interesting stories, interesting women with chequered pasts.'
However, she also said that she feels TV roles for women are getting much better in the changing, modern times.
Reuniting with Call Girl writer Lucy Prebble for Penny Dreadful, the theatre star confessed that the new project is 'sort of beautifully bleak' instead of overtly sexy.
'I would say tonally it's black comedy,' she explained of the new role, 'but it might just be black'.
Yet Billie didn't suffer the same problem with her next role, landing a lead part in the 2024 Netflix drama Scoop, a dramatic retelling of the process of securing and filming the 2019 Prince Andrew interview with Newsnight
The same year - Billie and Laurence confirmed they had separated after eight years of marriage, and insisted that 'no third parties involved' in their split.
A post on his official Facebook account at the time read: 'Laurence Fox and Billie Piper have separated. No third parties are involved. For the sake of our family we request and appeal for space and privacy at this time.'
The pair were granted a 'quickie divorce' in a court ruling that took just 50 seconds, citing unreasonable behaviour.
The actress, was not present when her request for a decree nisi from the actor was granted on the grounds that the marriage had 'irretrievably broken down' on the grounds of his 'unreasonable behaviour'.
At the time of their split, they stated their intention to 'co-parent their children with the utmost mutual respect for each other'.
But between 2016 and 2017, Laurence and Billie then became embroiled in a lengthy custody dispute over access to their children.
The proceedings concluded in the Family Division of the High Court in December 2017 and Laurence previously claimed that they drained his finances.
The actor said that he'd been forced to put his career on hold so that he could help their children cope with the aftermath of the split.
Speaking in January 2018, he said: 'I was certainly in a very dark place at one point – at my lowest ebb. I almost felt like I couldn't go on. It all felt so hopeless.
'With divorce, you immediately lose half the time you'd spend with the kids. That in itself is a mental health crisis. But, like everything, these feelings pass and you start to feel stronger with every day.
'Men no longer feel comfortable talking about relationships, and for the men who bottle it, it can be disastrous – they end up throwing themselves off buildings.'
After his court proceedings, Laurence started campaigning to transform the family court system, which he described as 'unnecessarily adversarial'.
At the time, he said: 'Actually I feel really sad. The process didn't need to be so long, drawn-out and adversarial.
'And ours was quick, because we have cash. I feel the children have been robbed of their young lives. It's been half of Eugene's life.'
In 2022, Laurence brought their custody dispute back into the public eye when he accused Billie of denying him access to their children, alleging that he has not been able to see or speak to his eldest son Winston on his 14th birthday.
He penned: 'It is [my son's] birthday tomorrow and his mother has denied him any access to see or speak with me, I am using my platform to highlight what child alienation does to families. Kids need both parents.
'Don't be the parent who refuses to let their sons speak to their dad, especially on their birthday. Don't be that parent. Put children first. Don't use them as weapons.
'It is so bad for kids. Child alienation needs to be talked about openly, along with all other child abuse.'
But X users were quick to hit back at his allegations and accused him of using his children as 'weapons' - which he had claimed Billie was doing - by sharing the ranting post.
The pair's divorce has also appeared turbulent in light of Laurence's many controversies following the split.
When asked during her British Vogue interview last year how she navigates co-parenting Billie shared: 'With enormous difficulty.'
She continued: 'I close everything down and keep a very strict routine with the kids so that there's consistency. I keep them close. That's all I can do...
'What is paramount for me is the privacy and anonymity of my children. They deserve not to be extensions of the parents and to forge their own identities.'
Billie added she tries to avoid hearing anything about her ex, who has hit headlines for a slew of scandals.
He was in 2023 dropped from GB News after launching into a 'sexist' rant about a female journalist and lost a high profile libel case after calling two men 'paedophiles'.
Yet Billie does her best to avoid being drawn into his scandals, explaining: 'I try to keep people from telling me stuff but it's really, really hard.
'I don't read it but everyone wants to talk about it. Sometimes I have to say to people: "Please don't bring this to me, now or ever."'
Yet she confessed she isn't the best person to ask about Laurence, saying: 'Look, if people want to try and understand the workings of the guy, they ought to either ask him or his family.
'Ask [Fox's brother-in-law, actor and comedian] Richard Ayoade what he thinks, or his wife [Fox's actor sister] Lydia. They might have a more interesting take.'
Laurence previously confessed in a Sunday Times interview that he had fallen out with his brother-in-law, half-Nigerian comedian Richard, after his controversial race rant on Question Time.
Appearing on the BBC panel show in 2020 he accused Rachel Boyle, an academic at Edge Hill University on Merseyside, of 'being racist' after she called him 'a white privileged male' for denying the Duchess of Sussex was hounded from Britain for being mixed-race.
After his controversial statements, Laurence revealed his half-Kuwaiti girlfriend of five months, Sara McKinnon dumped him and caused tension with Richard.
Laurence said: '[Richard] was furious. He told me I have never encountered racism. I responded. "Yeah, of course I have". I've encountered racism from black people towards me, when I was working in Kenya [as a safari driver] for seven months.
'It's the way you're spoken to. Racism can be deferential.'
He revealed Richard didn't attend Sunday lunch at their house for a few weekends, as a result of their feud but claimed they had since become friends again. After Billie and Laurence's split, she dated Johnny Lloyd for eight years - and the pair share five-year-old daughter, Tallulah together - but reportedly split in February.
Meanwhile, in past years Billie has continued to pursue roles which have taken her from strength to strength according to critics.
In 2020, she reportedly starred in the longest solo sex scene on British TV with her character in I Hate Suzie pleasuring herself for seven minutes and four seconds.
Billie, who starred as the title character and co-wrote the series with longtime collaborator, playwright Lucy Prebble, 'was determined to show women doing it for themselves', a source told The Sun.
In episode four of the series Suzie is also seen taking the batteries out of her son Frank's robot for her sex toy.
The source told the publication that it is 'not often' women are seen on TV 'enjoying themselves' 'solo'.
They added: 'So frankly it makes a refreshing change to see such a long and animated scene like this one.'
The Swindon-born star was lauded for her brooding portrayal of former popstar Suzie Pickles, who has her life thrown into disarray when intimate photos of her in a compromising position with a man who isn't her husband, are leaked online.
Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 95 percent, while Billie received a TV BAFTA nomination for her work in both the first season and follow-up I Hate Suzie Too.
However, despite going down a treat with critics, it failed to draw in a big enough audience, and it was not renewed for a third season.
Speaking to the Mail about the show's cancellation, Billie mused: 'It just didn't get a big enough audience - that's the way it goes.
'People in television loved it, because I guess it is largely about the world in which they work, but it wasn't seen by as many people beyond that world as we would like it to have been.'
Yet Billie didn't suffer the same problem with her next role, landing a lead part in the 2024 Netflix drama Scoop, a dramatic retelling of the process of securing and filming the 2019 Prince Andrew interview with Newsnight.
The series was praised by viewers and critics alike, with a whopping 2.75 million households tuning in for the first week alone.
Billie also secured another TV BAFTA nomination for her role as producer Sam McAlister.
That same year, she starred in another Netflix series, Kaos - a contemporary re-imagining of Greek mythology - where she played prophetess Cassandra.
The eight-episode series also starred Jeff Goldblum and Janet McTeer and received good reviews.
Fans were left crushed when the series was not renewed, with Kaos ultimately becoming the most-watched cancelled series in the second half of 2024.
Yet Billie had no time to mourn the end of the show as she was thrust into work on Netflix megahit Wednesday.
The mother-of-two has landed a role as Isadora Capri, Nevermor Academy's new head of music.
A former child prodigy, Isadora is described as being 'brilliant, intense, and enigmatic'.
According to Netflix, she takes a special interest in Wednesday's (Jenna Ortega) musical gifts and becomes a mentor to fellow werewolf Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers).
Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 will drop on August 6, with Part 2 following on September 3.
Billie will then be kept busy filming for Doctor Who after the jaw-dropping finale saw her unveiled as the next incarnation of the Time Lord.
The actress is well-known to longtime Who fans, having previously played The Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, and The Moment interface in the show's 50th Anniversary Special.
Ncuti Gatwa became the 15th Doctor in 2023 but during Saturday's episode it appeared that Ncuti's Doctor, had regenerated into Billie, with her first words being: 'Oh hello!'
Billie will now be the second woman to take on the role as the Time Lord after Jodie Whittaker portrayed the 13th doctor.
However, while her reveal understandably sparked a huge frenzy on social media, others have been quick to spot one key problem with her regeneration, following Ncuti Gatwa's long-speculated exit from the show.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, some fans were quick to note in the episode's closing credits, Billie was not credited as 'The Doctor,' with it instead simply stating: 'Introducing Billie Piper.'
Reacting to the news Billie said: 'It's no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so to be given the opportunity to step back on that Tardis one more time was just something I couldn't refuse.'
It is not known when the show will return and Billie's next scenes will air.