Billie Piper details her ‘reckless 20s’ after shooting to fame aged 15

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Billie Piper has candidly discussed her ‘reckless 20s’ and the ‘abandonment issues’ she endured in past relationships in a new interview.

The I Hate Suzie actress, 38, said she had rebelled in her 20s and ‘fell apart’ as a reaction to spending her teenage years as a ‘flashy sales girl’ when her music career took off aged 15.

Speaking to Red Magazine, she said: ‘My 20s were quite wild, and that was likely to be a reaction to [teenage years spent] working all the hours that God sent, being very performative and treated sort of like a flashy sales girl; a really young one. I really needed to fall apart in that sort of reckless 20s way. 

‘To not care about looking put-together every waking moment of my life or saying the wrong things as a role model to children.’

Billie was a fresh-faced Swindon teen when she burst onto the music scene in 1998 with her chart-topping hit, Because We Want To.

Aged 18, she shocked fans when she secretly wed Chris Evans in Las Vegas in 2001, sparking controversy due to their sixteen-year age gap.

The couple split three years later in 2004, but have remained close friends ever since.

The star then forged a career in acting with Doctor Who and Secret Life of a Call Girl – before moving into theatre.

After divorcing Chris, she wed actor Laurence Fox in 2007 before the couple divorced in 2016. They share sons Winston and Eugene.

Billie also enjoyed high profile romances with Ritchie Neville, Matt Smith and Amadu Sowe.

She is now in a long-term relationship with rocker Johnny Lloyd, the couple share a daughter Tallulah, two. 

Discussing her past romances, she said:‘I think a lot of my issues romantically have come from being on my own a lot when I was very young. 

‘So it’s sort of an extreme desire to feel loved and safe. I guess on some level it’s like abandonment issues – even though I wasn’t particularly abandoned; I lead myself largely – but I think that has affected relationships. 

‘I’ve [since] learned about attachment issues and co-dependency, which I never saw as a problem, until I did that work on myself.’

On the key to her current relationship with Johnny, Billie said:‘I really don’t know what the key is. I think on some level, I’m always going to be interested in love in a way that throws logic to the floor. 

‘Part of me doesn’t ever just want to see it as this rational thing where I’m making sure I have date night on a Wednesday; although I think there are merits in doing that. 

‘But the thought immediately makes me feel a bit heavy-hearted and bored. I don’t know if I can ever really be fully practical and healthy around love.’   

In October, Billie recalled how she got ‘completely hammered for three years’ with ex-husband Chris when she was feeling burnt out from her teen pop career. 

Speaking on the David Tennant Does A Podcast With… podcast, Billie said she had an ‘amazing time’ with Chris and likened their relationship to being in ‘your university years’.   

Recalling how she desired a more normal life after finding fame as a teen pop star, Billie said: ‘I would say I was in a dark place and just ready to have a bit of a normal life, whatever that meant for me. I was just so tired. 

‘If I’m honest, I was really burnt out. 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.’ 

David then asked her about her marriage to Chris, with Billie describing the relationship as ‘very loving’.

She said: ‘We had a really amazing time together, you know? 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.’ 

Billie added that Chris also gave her valuable advice on ignoring criticism, citing his words of wisdom to her when some doubted a former pop star was the right choice to be cast in sci-fi series Doctor Who, where she worked alongside David. 

She said: ‘I didn’t pay much attention to it. He taught me how to not do that. And then, with Doctor Who, I had a sniff of it, but I didn’t really know.

‘Of course, we didn’t have smartphones, so you weren’t constantly being reminded… So I just went for it. I wanted to prove myself as an actress. That was my goal. I wanted to prove it to myself, to my family and to the dream I had as a child.’

The April issue of Red is on sale from March 4.