Billie Piper has admitted she believes fame is ‘poisonous’ and ‘depressing’ and that she has decided to act ‘less and less’ in the future.
The singer-turned-actress, 40, was thrusted into the spotlight at the tender age of 15 with her debut single, Because We Want To, but has now revealed she’s been left disappointed by stardom.
In a new interview with The Guardian, she described life in the public eye as ‘awful’, ‘gross’, and a ‘dark thing’, adding that her ‘happiest’ times happened pre-celebrity.
‘It’s gross and such a dark thing!’ Billie Piper has claimed fame is ‘poisonous’ and ‘depressing’ while revealing she’ll act ‘less and less’ in the future (pictured in 2021)
The Doctor Who star said: ‘Fame is awful. It’s gross. It’s such a dark thing. 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 freest times, most of them are pre-fame.
‘It’s annoying because I love creating things. I love production. As I’m getting older, I’m enjoying making things from the ground up more and more and I think probably in the future, I’ll act less and less. I love what I do.
‘But I’m tiring of the nonsense of it all. To be honest, I have been since I was 19. It felt quite poisonous from a very early age. Now I’m so grateful that I had those experiences a long time ago, and now I can pretty much entirely focus on the work, and not the bulls**t.’
![Tragic: The singer-turned-actress, 40, was thrusted into the spotlight at the tender age of 15, but has now revealed she's been left disappointed by stardom (pictured in 1998)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/03/10/65200763-11497821-image-m-12_1670063749161.jpg)
Tragic: The singer-turned-actress, 40, was thrusted into the spotlight at the tender age of 15, but has now revealed she’s been left disappointed by stardom (pictured in 1998)
Last year, Billie revealed that therapy helped her cope with looking back at her early fame and how she relates to Britney Spears’ struggles.
She told how for many years she couldn’t watch herself in her childhood music videos or listen to her songs, but now she is able to reflect on it ‘fondly’.
Billie first appeared as a performer in Scratchy & Co at age 13 before releasing her debut single Because We Want To at 15, which made her the youngest female artist ever to enter at number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Speaking to Grazia she said: ‘For many years, I couldn’t watch myself as a child in a music video, or even hear my songs.
‘But I can now, and I’m reflecting on it more fondly than I ever have done. There are mixed emotions and, honestly, it’s all a bit confused.
‘I’ve forgotten a lot of it because I’ve never worked harder in my life than at that age. It makes sense to me that there’s not a great deal I can remember.’
The star then revealed that Britney Spears’ recent conservatorship battle and struggles with fame were something she felt she could ‘relate to’.
She explained that her time as a musician and also being a woman meant she dealt with ‘issues around control and misrepresentation’, before adding that a lot of women could probably relate to her even if they weren’t famous.
![How sad: In a new interview, she described life in the public eye as 'awful', 'gross', and a 'dark thing', adding that her 'happiest' times happened pre-celebrity](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/03/10/65200461-11497821-image-m-62_1670062847630.jpg)
How sad: In a new interview, she described life in the public eye as ‘awful’, ‘gross’, and a ‘dark thing’, adding that her ‘happiest’ times happened pre-celebrity
The mother-of-three has previously told how she battled through similar mental health issues to Britney.
Britney, 41, famously suffered a public breakdown in 2008 after checking out of rehab, which saw her shave her head and attack paparazzi with an umbrella.
After shooting to fame as a popstar aged 15, Billie recalled how working 18-hour days and having a ‘lack of control’ over everything had a very ‘negative impact’ on her life.
Looking back on her early years, Billie told how working relentlessly to become a music star took a toll on her mental health and eventually led to an eating disorder.
She explained: ‘I don’t know anyone who worked as hard as I did at 15.
‘It was a combination of burnout, the trauma of becoming really famous, being disconnected with my family, a lack of control in my life – hence the eating disorder.’
She went on: ‘I also felt I was a teenager and changing emotionally and psychologically so much. When I think of the life I lived as a child, with an 18-hour working day and never seeing my family, I see how it negatively impacted my life.’
![Throwback: She said: 'I'm tiring of the nonsense of it all. To be honest, I have been since I was 19. It felt quite poisonous from a very early age' (pictured in 1999)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/12/03/10/65200765-11497821-image-m-14_1670063768149.jpg)
Throwback: She said: ‘I’m tiring of the nonsense of it all. To be honest, I have been since I was 19. It felt quite poisonous from a very early age’ (pictured in 1999)
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