Billie Piper has said her teenage years were lonely and ‘unsafe’ as she grew up in the spotlight – and at the top of the charts.
The 38-year-old actress and filmmaker made history in 1998 when she became the youngest female artist to ever debut at the top of the singles charts with her song Because We Want To when she was 15.
The record breaking achievement propelled Billie into the limelight – with her music career continuing until the end of the year 2000.
Looking back at her time as a pop star, Billie explained how she found fame at such a young age a challenge.
She told Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: “When I look back at it now I have my own children, it seems unbelievably unsafe.
“It felt desperate and lonely.”
She credits marrying radio and TV star Chris Evans, 55, for helping her cope with fame.
She said: “When I got with Chris I went around the world with him and felt loved. I stopped caring, and that was really integral to me healing and pursuing acting.”
The couple were married between 2001 and 2007 – and have famously remained good friends since their marriage ended.
In an interview with Red Magazine this month, Billie said she 'fell apart' when her marriage ended when she was in her early 20s.
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."
She continued: "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."
The Rare Beasts director and actress said she had issues in previous relationships "from being on my own a lot when I was very young".
It left her with an "extreme desire to feel loved and safe", she added.
