Billie Piper confessed she was frequently mistaken for a “prostitute” after her racy ITV role in the mid-noughties.
The 41-year-old famously played the role of high-end prostitute Hannah Baxter on Secret Diary of a Call Girl in 2007. The gripping show was adapted from a blog written under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, who was later revealed to be research scientists Brooke Magnanti.
She played the role for four series before hanging up her coat in 2011. And it appears as though her famous role had a lasting impression on her loyal legion of fans even ten years on after she moved from London to the countryside.
READ MORE: Jonathan Ross fans all swoon over ‘unrecognisable’ but ‘fit’ pop star from the 90s
Click for more brilliant Daily Star showbiz stories
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2019, she revealed how the role confused some people. She told the presenter: “When I moved to the country people thought I was a genuine prostitute.
(Image: ITV)
“It happens all the time. It happened recently in America, where they tend to introduce people with a little biography, and I was introduced as ‘the prostitute’.”
Speaking to Radio Times, the blonde bombshell admitted that she was excited to bring the character to life at first. Billie explained: “I thought it could be very original and thought-provoking.
“But there was a lot of resistance and it became something very different,” adding that the “execution wasn’t quite there.” Show writer Lucy Prebble also revealed that the show wasn’t what she’d initially “envisaged.”
(Image: ITV)
It did help bridge the gap between the actor’s former famous role as Rose Tyler in Doctor Who to the grittier roles she plays today. Since then, Billie has appeared in several TV shows, and has most recently starred on the Sky comedy drama I Hate Suzie and the Netflix film Scoop.
Billie first hit catapulted to fame when she was a teenager when she first launched her music career. The hitmaker became the youngest artist to reach number one in the charts with her debut single Because We Want To in 1998 at the age of 15.
Her immediate success saw her release another No1 hit and two albums before she announced in 2003 that she was abandoning her music career to focus on acting.
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Looking back on her rise to fame, Billie admitted that her 20s were a bit of a blur due to her high levels of stress. She told the outlet: “In my 20s, a lot of my stress from that period was buried, and I still struggle to remember a lot of it.”
The musician turned actress added that she “doesn’t regret” her music stardom, and is extremely thankful for where she is in life now. She said: “I love what I do and where I’m at personally.
“But I certainly wouldn’t want my children to go that way.” Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
