Billie Piper has broken her silence on her controversial ex-husband Laurence Fox and spoken about how difficult it is to co-parent with him.
The Diary Of A Call Girl star, 41, was married to the 45-year-old actor turned GB News presenter from 2007 until 2016, and they share two children together.
Piper has not spoken about their relationship in recent years, though it was previously claimed she was ‘humiliated and betrayed’ by the allegations of her husband ‘wooing’ other women during their marriage.
At the time of their split, the pair confirmed no other parties were involved and that their marriage had ‘irretrievably broken down,’ with Fox calling the divorce ‘horrendous’.
In later years, Piper avoided speaking of their relationship and the controversies surrounding Fox, though she has claimed to ‘know about dysfunctional relationships’.
However, in a new interview, she’s said: ‘Of course I have feelings on that, I’m not dead inside.’
Speaking to Vogue, Piper went on: ‘Look, if people want to try and understand the workings of the guy, they ought to either ask him or his family. Ask [Fox’s brother-in-law, actor and comedian] Richard Ayoade what he thinks, or his wife [Fox’s actor sister] Lydia. They might have a more interesting take.’
‘I try to keep people from telling me stuff but it’s really, really hard. I don’t read it but everyone wants to talk about it. Sometimes I have to say to people: “Please don’t bring this to me, now or ever,’ she added, before saying the relationship and fallout has ‘made me feel stronger in many ways’, teaching her resilience and that only she can control her reactions.
Piper added that co-parenting with Fox comes with ‘enormous difficulty’, and she values her children’s privacy, saying: ‘They deserve not to be extensions of the parents and to forge their own identities.’
In recent years, Fox has publicly criticised the George Floyd protests and COVID-19 vaccines, founded a right-wing populist political party and sparked controversy with social media posts that have included a particularly inflammatory one where he shared an image of a swastika made from the Progress Pride flag.
Then, in September he was sensationally fired from GB News after launching into a misogynistic tirade against a female journalist which was this week named the most complained about moment on British TV this year.
Fox made remarks about journalist Ava Evans, while appearing on Dan Wootton’s programme, including asking: ‘Who would want to shag that?’
He later apologised over the comment, after immense outrage, and was suspended from GB News after claiming he knew he was going to be sacked.
As well as launching his own political party and a string of offensive remarks about the LGBTQ+ community (and was assessed by the police over a homophobic video in June last year), Fox has said he has learnt not to date women under 35 because of their politically correct views.
In 2020, he also made an appearance on Question Time when he said being called a ‘white privileged male’ was racism.
Piper and Fox dated from 2006, after meeting while working on stage play Treats. They married one year later, and even got matching tattoos to commemorate the day.
They divorced after eight years of marriage, with Piper remaining tight-lipped at the time and to this day, though she did admit she had a ‘life crisis’ in her early 30s.
The actress said: ‘I think your thirties are a time when you start reflecting on everything you have or haven’t achieved, and where you’re going and what your mental health is like — are you in a circle of repetitive, negative behaviours?
‘Your 20s are fun, wild and without consequence. Obviously, there are dark moments in your twenties, but pretty much when you compare them to your thirties, they’re a bloody walk in the park.
‘In your 30s it’s like, “Wow, sh*t is getting real”.’
She was 34 when she and Fox divorced, and has since gone on to have a third child with partner Johnny Lloyd.
Fox has spoken about their divorce before, saying: ‘Suddenly not being a family with your children every day was the bit that sent me over the edge, and I certainly, definitely had thoughts of what’s the point in being alive?’
He’s also spoken about their blazing rows, and admitted in a 2020 interview he ‘100 per cent wound the f**k out of’ his ex when they had an argument, but ‘she never broke any teeth’.
See the full feature in the April issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 19 March.
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