Billie Piper has said she dislikes being told or asked about her ex-husband Laurence Fox’s incendiary comments.
However, Piper, 41, who was married to the actor turned political campaigner from 2007 until 2016, believes dealing with press headlines over his remarks had made her “feel stronger in many ways”.
They have two sons together, Winston and Eugene.
The Doctor Who actor told British Vogue she “had to make some choices and a divorce speaks for itself” and that Fox’s family, including sister Lydia Fox and her husband, Richard Ayoade, “might have a more interesting take” on him.
Fox, 45, was sacked as a presenter on GB News last year after “misogynistic” comments he made about journalist Ava Evans, which were found by the regulator Ofcom to have broken broadcasting rules.
The remarks in September by Fox, the leader of the rightwing Reclaim party – in which he asked, “Who would want to shag that?” in reference to Evans – received 8,867 complaints.
Piper, who appears in the upcoming Netflix film Scoop about the infamous Newsnight interview with the Duke of York in 2019, said she has handled Fox hitting the headlines with “enormous difficulty”.
She said: “I close everything down and keep a very strict routine with the kids so that there’s consistency. I keep them close. That’s all I can do.
“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.’”
Piper added: “It’s made me feel stronger in many ways.
“I’ve learned I have a lot of resilience I didn’t know I had. I’ve had to learn the hard way that you can only control yourself and how you react to things. It’s really fucking hard … I hate that.”
Fox responded to Piper’s comments in a lengthy statement on X.
The campaigner said: “The reality is that not all marriages work out and the world isn’t perfect.”
Speaking about his children, he added: “My only focus these past years has been to be present in their lives and be a loving dad.
“I’m not perfect, but I’ve done my absolute best to put the kids first … I take full responsibility for my role in the breakdown of our marriage. It takes two to tango, as they say.”
Piper is now in a relationship with Tribes lead singer Johnny Lloyd, with whom she shares a daughter called Tallulah.
