Billie Piper has a better relationship with her mum since becoming a parent

The 32-year-old, who rose to fame when her debut single Because We Want To went to the top of the pop charts in 1998, has since made a name for herself as an actress through roles in Doctor Who, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl and Penny Dreadful.

And since becoming a mother to two boys with her second husband, fellow actor Laurence Fox, the Swindon-raised Piper said she has seen her parents in a new light.

It comes after a chaotic period at the dawn of her fame when she married television presenter Chris Evans and had suicidal thoughts while on tour in America as a teenager.

She told the Times Magazine: “I’ve always been a bit fractious with my parents. But I think that’s because I left home in my formative years and I didn’t really know how to be around them.

“I was making really big personal choices at a very young age, and I kind of forced them out of my life, because they were the only ones telling me to calm down and watch what I was doing and who I was with.

“I think when you have your own children, you see your mother in a whole new light. It’s a wonderful thing to experience later in life, that feeling of how much respect and appreciation you have for your mum and how selfless they were.”

The stage and screen actress, perhaps best known for her role as the Doctor’s assistant in the long-running BBC sci-fi series, said her days of playing escorts are likely to remain in her past.

She said: “Maybe it’s because I’m not scared of it, and I’ll do it.

“Maybe they (casting directors) think: ‘She loves it! Line ‘em up. Who could we get to play this prostitute? Billie Piper!’ I think I am going to have to call it a day.”