Billie Piper says she loved her time in ‘very drunken’ marriage to Chris Evans

Billie Piper has shed light on her marriage to Chris Evans, calling it very “nurturing” as well as “very drunken”.

The former Doctor Who star married Evans when she was 18 and he was 35.

They divorced in 2007 and are said to have remained good friends.

Speaking of her marriage, Piper told The Guardian that she “loved” her time with Evans and “learned so much” from that relationship.

“Loved it. Loved that time. Learned so much. Really needed it, after the experiences that I’d had, leading up to that point. And I felt like I’d actually found a real friend,” she said of the radio presenter.

“I guess meeting someone who had experienced [fame] for 20 years, at that level, it was very nurturing. And also very drunken, which I needed. I had a lot of fun during those years.”

Piper also admitted that the media attention she and Evans received at the time overshadowed her career switch from a musician to an actor.

“I was kind of naive about that next phase of my career, which was useful, because you’re not as scared of rejection. But there was loads of rejection,” she said.

“A lot of it was just tabloid fodder, rather than, ‘Oh, she was a pop star.’ It was more, ‘She was a pop star, then she got pissed for five years with an old man.’ I think that was the lasting image when I walked into an audition room.

“Older man. Not old man. He’s an old man now, but then, so am I.”

Following her split with Evans, Piper married actor and failed London mayoral candidate Laurence Fox, with whom she has two children.

The former couple divorced in 2016. Piper is now in a relationship with singer Johnny Lloyd.