'Playing the victim': Laurence Fox hits back at ex-wife Billie Piper after co-parenting complaints
16 March 2024, 23:18
Right-wing politician and actor Laurence Fox had accused his ex-wife Billie Piper of playing the victim after she made comments about co-parenting with him after their divorce six years ago.
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The leader of the fledgling right-wing Reclaim Party said: "The reason co-parenting is hard is because the secretive family court system is hugely weighted towards the mother."
"It is a system totally unfit for purpose."
The actor added: "I have never tried to deny our boys access to their mum, and I would never wish her anything other than a stable family.
Read More: Billie Piper breaks silence on ex-husband Laurence Fox six years after their divorce
"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."
The actress broke her silence on her ex-husband Laurence Fox six years after they divorced on Friday.
Billie Piper, 41, was married to the actor-turned-politician from 2007 to 2016 and had two children Winston, 12, and Eugene, eight, together.
They later became embroiled in a lengthy custody battle over their sons and in 2022, Fox, 45, claimed that Piper was using their children as ‘weapons’ after he had been denied access to seeing them.
Piper has previously stayed quiet on the matter but now she has opened up about the challenges of navigating custody with her ex-husband in a new interview.
Speaking to British Vogue, the Secret Diary of a Call Girl star revealed that co-parenting with Fox is an “enormous difficulty”.
“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,” she told the outlet.
“What is paramount for me is the privacy and anonymity of my children. They deserve not to be extensions of the parents and to forge their own identities.”
Announcing their split back in 2016, the pair said the marriage had “irretrievably broken down” and that there were no third parties involved.
Read more: Golden Globe winning Squid Game star found guilty of sex assault after groping woman
Since their split, the actress said she tries to avoid any news about Fox even though it often turns out to be a challenging task.
She continued: “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.’”
“I’ve had to make some choices and a divorce speaks for itself... or at least it should! You have to laugh because it's a lot. It's a good way of kind of soothing yourself.”
She said one upside of the divorce was it helped her “feel stronger in many ways”.
And to those who keep asking about her ex, she said: “Look, if people want to try and understand the workings of the guy, they ought to either ask him or his family.
“Ask [Fox’s brother-in-law, actor and comedian] Richard Ayoade what he thinks, or his wife [Fox’s actor sister] Lydia. They might have a more interesting take.”
The pair met in 2006 after meeting while working on stage play Treats. They married one year later.
