Billie Piper reveals she turned down Cabaret revival

Billie Piper has revealed she turned down the opportunity to replace Jessie Buckley in the London revival of Cabaret.

During an appearance on this week's Table Manners podcast, the British singer-turned-actress said she would never do musical theatre because it's "really hard work".

When co-host and singer Jessie Ware noted that she could see Billie as Sally Bowles in Cabaret, the former Doctor Who star explained that the lifestyle of a musical theatre performer is not for her.

"I obviously love that play and the part of Sally Bowles is like a dream role for any actress but musical theatre is such hard work," she shared. "It's exhausting and I don't like the idea of having to take care of myself that well all the f**king time, you know what I mean? You have to really manage your voice and never go out, because my voice isn't strong enough to handle that, no way."

When Jessie directly asked if she had been approached to play Sally on the West End, Billie confirmed that she had been asked to replace the Irish actress, who played Sally between November 2021 and March 2022.

"I would have loved it but that song is hard, those songs, those big numbers, are brutal, you've got to really watch yourself and I just can't be bothered," she continued, referring to Sally's songs Maybe This Time, Cabaret and Mein Herr, among others.

While she hasn't done any musical theatre, Billie, 41, has performed on stage in plays such as Yerma, The Effect and Great Britain. However, she hasn't returned to the theatre since her daughter was born in 2019.

"I also find theatre hard when you've got a family because you never get to put them to bed and you don't get Saturdays with them, it's quite tricky," she shared.

Billie shares her daughter with her ex, musician Johnny Lloyd, and has two teenage sons from her marriage to Laurence Fox.