I'm too young for sex, drugs and rock and roll
Dominic Mohan and Victoria Newton 7 July 1998 (c) 1998 News Group
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Says 15-year-old chart topper Billie.
BILLIE PIPER celebrated getting to No 1 in unique style - by going to bed at 9pm with a cup of tea.
The 15-year-old star shot to the top on Sunday with Because We Want To.
Yesterday she spoke exclusively to Bizarre and admitted: "I'm too young for sex and drugs and rock and roll.
I didn't celebrate. I was really tired. I was asleep by 9.30 after a cup of tea. There was no champagne. I think going out
to showbiz parties all the time and getting drunk is a bit naff."
Billie is the youngest star to hit No 1 since Helen Shapiro topped the charts with Walking Back To Happiness
in 1961 at the age of 15 years and three weeks.
And being at the top is taking a bit of getting used to. Billie said: "I knocked Three Lions off No 1 which
is scary. If England had won, I wouldn't be at the top. Some good has come out of them losing - well, for me, at least!"
Billie lives with her two sisters, brother and parents Paul and Mandy in Swindon, Wilts, and has been dating
school pal David Price for eight months.
Billie said: "He's 17 and we get on really well. I like older men - not too old though. He can't believe I'm
No 1.
"I don't know what's going to happen between us because I'm so busy. I don't see him a lot."
Billie chats breathlessly about being No 1 so young - but deep down she always knew she would be famous.
That's what happens when you have been to Sylvia Young, the stage school which launched Emma Bunton, All Saints,
Samantha Janus and Dani Behr. Billie has been an extra in EastEnders and was groomed for stardom after Virgin Records executives
noticed her in a wacky advert for Smash Hits.
She said: "I think my generation has grown up very quickly.
"I always knew I was going to be famous. I just didn't think it would happen to me so young. I can't believe
80,000 people have bought my record."
Billie's album should be out in October but after that she has got GCSEs to worry about. She left school at
Easter and now has a private tutor. She says: "I'm going to have to juggle my career and studies.
"Two weeks ago, nobody knew who I was but now half the population do. That's what I can't get my head round."
Although the money has started to roll in, Billie has not been on a spending spree. She admitted: "The problem
is, because I'm so young, there's nothing to spend it on. I can't buy a car, or a house or loads of champagne. But I will
buy Mum and Dad a lovely gift."
Billie wants to meet the Spice Girls, her Virgin stablemates.
She said: "They are my heroes but I don't think I represent Girl Power. I represent Youth Power and I hope
being No 1 helps inspire young people to do what they want. Because We Want To is about being youthful and rebellious in a
positive way.
"It's a young person's comment. I can imagine millions of mums and dads cursing me because their kids will
be saying it all the time."
And when you meet the girl with perfectly tousled hair and a Spicy grin you know she was always destined to
be famous. Why? Because she wants to.
* WHERE WERE YOU IN '82
BILLIE was born on September 22, 1982. That week, Survivor were at No 1 with Eye Of The Tiger, while the top
album was by The Kids From Fame. Margaret Thatcher was PM and Man United were top of Division One. Michael Fagan was cleared
of burglary after he allegedly broke into Buckingham Palace and sat on the Queen's bed.