Diary Of A Call Girl actress Billie Piper 'was mistaken for a real prostitute'

Guest Billie Piper during filming of The Graham Norton Show at The London Studios in south London. (PA)

Actress Billie Piper has revealed she was mistaken for a real-life prostitute after a stint playing one for a TV role.

The star, 30, said the confusion arose after she moved to the countryside following her role in ITV2 drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

Piper told BBC1 chat show host Graham Norton that she had even been introduced as "the prostitute" when visiting the US.

The mother-of-two starred in four series of Secret Diary, adapted from a blog written under the pseudonym "Belle de Jour", who was later revealed to be research scientist Brooke Magnanti.

Piper, speaking in an interview to be screened on tomorrow's Graham Norton Show, said the role has confused some people.

"When I moved to the country people thought I was a genuine prostitute. It happens all the time," she said.

"It happened recently in America, where they tend to introduce people with a little biography, and I was introduced as 'the prostitute'."

Piper who had a teenage career as a chart star with hits such as "Because We Want To" said her sons, aged four and eight months, had yet to hear any of her songs.

"They haven't. There is plenty of time for that," she said.

She said she was not ashamed of her days in the music business, but added: "I just don't like to think about it."

Piper said she did not enjoy pregnancy. "It's stressful and wearing.

"You're either one of those people that love and embrace it, or you find it frustrating and uncomfortable and I was that girl. It pushed me to the edge," she added.

PA