IN a frank interview, Swindon starlet, Billie Piper has admitted she didn't enjoy her singing carer.

Billie, now 22, will be seen starring alongside actor Christopher Ecclestone in the new series of Doctor Who, which starts this coming Saturday on BBC 1

She appeared on Michael Parkinson's show on Saturday night alongside chef Jamie Oliver and actor Ewan McGregor.

She admitted, she was a hopeless romantic and said that her recent marriage break-up with broadcaster Chris Evans was amicable and that they remained the best of friends.

Talking about the break-up she said: "It was difficult spending 11 days a fortnight filming for the best part of a year and it was tough at times.

"In the beginning we were inseparable. Then suddenly not to be able see somebody every day had a big effect.

"But Chris didn't want to hold me back and there are no bad feelings at all and no regrets."

The couple spent almost two years on a constant honeymoon after getting married in Las Vegas, a marriage in which Billie herself proposed to Chris in Paris and gave up her singing career.

"I went to theatre school, I did not like singing. It was fun at first but I am not someone who will write lyrics. I felt bad about it. I didn't really want to do it."

"I desperately wanted to act, and then I met Chris and ended my singing career. We were running away from something. It was escapism for a while."

Billie also talked about her role in the latest series of Doctor Who in which she plays the Doctor's assistant, Rose Tyler. She admitted she was a little young to be a fan of the programme and decided to play the character without looking back at previous actresses who played the role.

"I am too young to be a Doctor Who fan but I knew the music, it's like a track at a wedding reception. You know what the song is but can't place it.

"I decided to make a conscious effort not to look back at the old programmes, so the character I play is gutsy but she won't do high-kicks, she prefers to talk her way out of trouble."

Billie shot to fame aged 15 as a pop singer with her number one hit Because We Want To. She become the youngest female solo artist to debut at number one in the UK chart.

She eventually hit the number one spot twice before giving up her singing career.

Last year, Billie appeared on the silver screen for the first time in the Calcium Kid alongside Orlando Bloom.

But she is no stranger to the small screen, having appeared with actor James Nesbitt in an adaptation of Chaucer's A Miller's Tale and starred in the recent BBC2 drama Bella And The Boys.

Anthony Osborne