Billie Piper

Profession: Actress
Place/Date of Birth: Swindon, England, 22 September 2020
Associated with: Chris Evans

"She’s made the break from the Big Smoke," said the DJ. "They’ve bought a fab and truly lovely cottage. Views to die for, very manageable and sizeable gardens and a multi-level living space. It really is a wonderful place."

Billie and Laurence got together while rehearsing for their West End play Treats, and have been an item ever since.

’Quickie’ divorce for Chris and Billie - May 31 2007
Chris Evans and Billie Piper were today granted a "quickie" divorce in London.

The decree nisi - 7th out of a list of 30 - went through at a brief hearing before District Judge Cushing at the Principal Registry of the High Court’s Family Division.

Neither actress Billie, 24, nor DJ Chris, who is 16 years her senior, was present.

The couple, who married in Las Vegas in May 2001, separated in October 2004.

They first met when the former pop star appeared on Chris’s TV show TFI Friday and the attraction was instant. The DJ went about wooing the then teenage Billie with a £110,000 Ferrari filled with roses, even though she could not drive.

Five months later they married in a £250 "quickie" ceremony.

The unlikely couple were not joined by any of their parents but instead had six friends watching the ceremony.

Billie, then 18, wore a sarong and flip-flops, while media mogul Chris, 35, donned an open-necked shirt and sunglasses.

The couple withdrew from the public eye, enjoying 18 months of travel around the globe.

When they returned Billie kicked off her acting career, winning acclaim for her first major acting role in the BBC’s Canterbury Tales.

But the couple were becoming increasingly distant, and by October 2004, they had announced they were separating.

They have maintained their friendship however, with the ex-Doctor Who star even appearing as a guest on her estranged hubbie’s chat show.

Billie has also insisted she will not take any cash from her multimillionaire ex-husband.

Billie ’won’t risk’ Hollywood - Mar 16 2007
Unlike most actresses, Billie Piper isn’t sure if she wants to head for the bright lights and notoriety of Hollywood - admitting she’s not sure if she would "risk it".

"It would be great if the right job came along and I was fortunate enough to be involved," she says.

"But I really would have to consider it a lot, because I like going to America and staying anonymous and I wonder how much I would want to be in a really big film.

"I don’t know if I would want to risk it, as there isn’t any going back. I go to New York all the time and I can just be silent and do things like everybody else.

"And I love working here. Telly is really exciting at the moment for me. I love being with my mates and family, so I just don’t know how much I’d want to leave."

But in the meantime, Billie has more pressing concerns. Like whether to tune in to the latest series of Dr Who, complete with new assistant Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman.

"I might find it quite hard," she says. "But I’m going to try. I want to see it, as I’m really intrigued."

Billie close to ’breaking point’ - Mar 13 2007
Billie Piper’s West End debut has brought her close to breaking point, she admitted.

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Biography

Billie Piper was born September 22 1982 and propelled into stardom at the young age of 15.

Her fame began when she became the youngest female solo artist ever to debut at number one in the UK charts, with the feisty ’Because We Want To’ in the summer of 1998. Three months later she repeated the feat with the follow-up ’Girlfriend’, a slower R&B-tingle tune, which proved that this was one pop baby who could sing. In October 1998, the platinum-selling album ’Honey To The B’ took Billie’s career a step on and silenced the cynics who had said her success was sure to be short lived.

Throughout 1999 she took a step out of the limelight to work on her second album, whilst playing house with Five singer Ritchie Neville. Then in early 2000 Billie made her comeback with the single ’Day & Night’, an up-tempo song that hit the top of the charts.

Accompanying this comeback was a total image overhaul that offered up a far raunchy and overtly sexy individual. However, still in her late teens, the new image created quite a lot of press, and not all of it good, launching the debate as to whether it was suitable for young girls to copy her style.

Billie’s rock’n’roll lifestyle continued at great apace with a stalker, suspected drugs issues and her eventual marriage to, 16 years her senior, Chris Evans. The relationship that followed saw Billie’s demise from the public eye and the couple became more famous for their extreme partying, which as well as costing Chris his job at Virgin, also saw Billie flounder about with seemingly not much to do other than get drunk.

In 2003 she returned to her roots and polished her acting skills in the sunny climes of Los Angeles. On her return to the UK she quickly earned roles in television and film productions, her first being The Canterbury Tales that stunned viewers and changed their perception of her from a young pop princess to that of professional actress.

She later appeared in The Calcium Kid, Spirit Trap, Much Ado About Nothing, The Ruby in the Smoke and Mansfield Park, however it was her character Rose Tyler that awarded her the most acclaim.

In 2004 Billie signed to work on the new series of Doctor Who, as sidekick and companion of the good Doctor. She won Most Popular Actress category 2005 and 2006 for her work on the series, alongside Best Actress at the TV Quick and TV Choice Awards 2006 and Breakthrough Award at the Southbank Show Awards 2006, however on June 15, 2006, it was announced by the BBC that she was to depart in the final episode of the second series.

In October 2004 Billie and Chris began a trial separation that was to end in divorce, however the couple remain close friends, living just two houses away in the desirable Belsize Park area on London.

read more on Chris Evans

December 2007