Billie's anorexia battle

TV

13:30 02 October 2006

'Dr Who' actress Billie Piper has confessed she ate tissues to stop herself getting hungry at the height of her eating disorder.

The 24-year-old battled anorexia for two years after she heard a TV presenter call her "fat" at a music awards ceremony when she was just 16.

Billie revealed in her new autobiography 'Growing Pains': "I read about a girl who ate tissues to fill herself up, so I sat on the floor of my hotel room somewhere in America and tried to force Kleenex down my throat.

"But the tissue thing was b*****ks. Not only was I still hungry, I nearly choked on a ball of tissue.

"I could go without eating until 4pm if I drank enough coffee and Diet Coke and smoked enough cigarettes."

Billie has also revealed in her autobiography that she became addicted to laxatives and punched herself in the stomach. She said she looked "like Skeletor" the skeletal cartoon character.

Billie says her marriage to millionaire radio DJ Chris Evans saved her life.

She said: "There were so many other things to try, to do. I had been infected by Chris' appetite for life. The pounds piled on and I felt sexy - Chris made me feel sexy."

(C) BANG Media International