Billie Piper describes life in public eye as 'awful' and 'dark thing'

Billie Piper, described life in the public eye as 'awful' and 'dark thing', adding fame is 'poisonous' and 'depressing' and that she has decided to act 'less and less in the future.

The singer-turned-actress, 40, was thrust 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 added that her 'happiest' times happened pre-celebrity.

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.'

Last year, Billie revealed that therapy helped her cope with looking back at her early fame and how she relates to Britney Spears' struggles.