Billie Piper says marriage to Chris Evans was like being ‘drunk with an old man’

Billie Piper once reminisced about her time married to radio DJ Chris Evans and it sounded like the ultimate booze-fest.

Actress Billie is celebrating her 42nd birthday today (22 September) and what a whirlwind her last two decades of fame has brought.

She's been known as Rose on Doctor Who, a call girl on Secret Diary of a Call Girl and a 'Cause I Want To' pop star.

But one of her most notable roles was when she was just 18.

Back in 2000, Billie, now 42, appeared on an episode of TFI Friday, which was where her future husband was.

Chris, now 58, lavished her with a crazily expensive gift to make sure she knew he was interested and that's where it all began.

Billie Piper and Chris Evans said 'I do' in 2001. (Steve Finn/Getty Images)

The TV host bestowed upon the singer a Ferrari filled with roses.

It was shortly afterward that the pair held a secret wedding ceremony in Las Vegas and when the press got hold of their relationship status, there was an outcry.

At the time Billie was just 18 while Chris was 17 years her senior at 35, but that wasn't the worst of it.

Essentially, they boozed it up on the regular like uni teens.

The two also share different sentiments of their relationship as the Virgin Radio presenter said they were ‘totally in love’ and that they were ‘together for the right reasons’, while Billie admitted marriage negatively impacted her career.

Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “A lot of it was just tabloid fodder, rather than, ‘Oh, she was a pop star’.

The pair went on to divorce but hold no ill will. (Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Peninsula London)

“It was more, ‘She was a pop star, then she got p**ssed 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.”

However, she went on to share that she remembers that time of her life fondly.

“Loved that time. Learned so much,” she explained. “Really needed it, after the experiences that I’d had, leading up to that point.

“I felt like I’d actually found a real friend. 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.”

But it wasn't to last.

The Netflix star and Chris went on to call it quits in 2004.

After her whirlwind romance, Billie went on to marry her second husband, Laurence Fox, 45, three years later and went on to have two sons, Winston and Eugene Fox before the Doctor Who actress was granted another divorce in 2016.

She also shares a daughter with Tribes frontman and former partner Johnny Lloyd - Tallulah Lloyd.

Outside of her personal life, Billie’s latest roles include the Lena Dunham-directed comedy Catherine Called Birdy and the biographical drama, Scoop.

She portrays former TV producer and trained criminal barrister Sam McAlister, who secured an interview with Prince Andrew for the BBC's Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal.

An official synopsis for the scandalous movie reads: “Inspired by an insider account, this drama unpacks how Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview became 2019’s biggest scoop. But who got him to agree to it?”