Billie Piper thinks the acting industry can be a "bloodsport" for women.

The 44-year-old star isn't convinced things have changed as much as has been perceived because although actresses may feel more "supported", they are often pitted against one another, causing hostile environments.

She mused to The Guardian newspaper: "Whether it's people coming out or #MeToo stuff, I don't know how much has really changed. Some things are arguably worse.

"This idea that women are always looking out for each other now, aligned in a sisterly way, is not strictly true. It's still a bit of a bloodsport. We're pitted against each other and it can breed hostility.

"People's behaviour within the industry is better, I guess. You feel more supported, but there are still bad apples.

"As for coming out … I dunno. Do people need to keep announcing these things? It feels like it's up to you."

Billie has "many struggles" with social media and while she'd love to get rid of her accounts entirely, she thinks it's necessary for her profession.

She said: "I do a bit of it but I'm cautious because it's useful to be unknowable.

"I feel uncomfortable about it but there is also an element that feels creatively interesting. Then there's the part that is purely about ego and commerce, and the idea of relevance.

"What I'd love to do is just completely turn the f***** off - but I don't."

In 2017, Billie won the Best Actress Olivier Award for her role as a blogger struggling to get pregnant in Yerma, and she noted her theatre roles have all come at times when she was "struggling" in her personal life. However, she thinks going through her divorce from Laurence Fox - the father of her two sons - at the time helped with both her performance and processing the upheaval.

Billie - who also has a daughter with former partner Johnny Lloyd - said: "When I think back, I've only ever done theatre at points in my life where I've been struggling. I wonder if it's just because, as an actor, that's how you process the things that are happening to you.

"Unconsciously, you're drawn to something that is either going to help you escape what you're experiencing personally, or help you process - or maybe a bit of both. If I had been in a better space personally when I did Yerma, I actually think I would've found it harder to do...

"I was quite an open wound when I played that part so I had a physical need to put that somewhere.

"I was going through a separation, yeah. And the time before that, I was processing pregnancy. And the time before that, I was … There's always been something that aligns with these monumental events in my personal life."