Billie talks about life down on farm (From Swindon Advertiser)

Billie talks about life down on farm

11:50am Tuesday 5th January 2010

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BILLIE Piper is settling into the rural life in her new home, even if the reaction from the locals might not be quite what she is used to.

The 27-year-old, who was brought up in Purton, is now settled on a West Sussex farm with her actor husband Laurence Fox, who stars in the detective series Lewis, and their one-year-old son Winston.

The former Bradon Forest School student posed for the latest edition of Marie Claire magazine showing off her new home.

But in the accompanying article she said that country life is not all plain sailing.

Billie, who most recently starred on TV as high class call girl Belle Du Jour: “It’s funny. When Laurence and I go out into the countryside, I think a few of the older locals actually believe I'm a whore.

“They love Laurence because he's in Lewis, and his fan club are basically in their mid-60s and upwards. They love him. It’s sickening.

“They follow him around, they want to mother him. I mean, there are places he can’t go – like Mecca Bingo or the bowling green – but he loves it. Then they look at me and are like, ‘That slag! How could you dirty yourself with her? She’s corrupted you.’”

Billie also spoke about her relationship with Laurence, 31, She said: “We’re quite desperate about each other. It’s fiery and needy. We’re two very emotional people with staunch views about certain things.

“And from such different worlds. Big families, but we were raised so differently.

“When we have fights, it’s often about the fact that we see things very differently because of the way we’ve been brought up.”

Billie’s latest project is BBC1 adaptation of award winning play A Passionate Woman, which will be shown later this year.

Set in Leeds in the 1950s Cold War period, Billie stars as Betty, a young wife and mother who reluctantly falls in love with her charismatic Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski, played by Theo James.

She will also meet the real-life inspiration for her character Belle du Jour in a forthcoming ITV2 documentary.

The show, entitled Billie And The Call Girl Bare All, will feature an interview with Billie and Dr Brooke Magnanti, who outed herself as the author of the Belle de Jour story in November.

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