Billie Piper

Biography

Billie Piper was born on 22 September 1982 in Swindon.

Although Billie Piper's initial interest was in acting which led to her attending the Sixth Sense theatre company and the Sylvia Young Theatre School, it was to be with music that Billie Piper was first to burst on to the scene.

Billie Piper was signed by Virgin records and she became the youngest solo artist to debut at number one on the UK charts when she released, Because We Want To.

The success of the single Girlfriend meant that Billie Piper was the first UK female solo artist to have two Number 1s in the same year, since Cilla Black in 1964.

In 2001 Billie Piper married Chris Evans and put her music career on hold, and when she returned to the scene with her second album it was not a commercial success.

In recent times, having split up from Chris Evans, Billie Piper has turned increasingly towards acting.

Piper acted in the BBC dramas The Canterbury Tales, Bella and the Boys, and a modern adaptation of The Miller's Tale. She also had a role in The Calcium Kid.

However, Billie Piper's most succesful role to-date has been as Doctor Who's sidekick, Rose Tyler, in the cult BBC sci-fi show, for which she won the most popular actress award in the 2005 National Television Awards.

She also played the part of 'Hero' in the BBC's 2005 reworking of Much Ado About Nothing.

Billie Piper and Chris Evans obviously still get on as was witnessed by her appearance in the first programme of Evans's new series OFI Sunday.