Millie Gibson has spoken about the time when the tabloid newspapers branded her a “diva” after her apparent Doctor Who exit.
Gibson was subject to a lot of abuse even before her character, Ruby Sunday, left the TARDIS at the end of Doctor Who Series 14, with tabloids speculating that she was difficult to deal with behind the scenes. However, as it turns out, she returned for a few episodes in Series 15. She said that she she wasn’t “able to speak up” over reports she’d been fired, as it would’ve given away spoilers. She went on:
“I couldn’t be like, ‘It’s a lie!’ [because] they’d be like, ‘Well, that’s spoilers’. It was quite hard to stand up for myself without ruining the show. I was like, ‘Oh, this is horrific because it just looks like it’s true.'”
“What was frustrating was the amount of people that were like, ‘Oh, sorry, this has happened, mate,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s not [happened], but thank you.'”
Back in January 2024, I remember being aghast at how the press treated Millie, and so I wrote:
“Her youth might also play a part. The “spoilt brat” angle is always appealing for the media, and it’s a miracle more youngsters thrown into the spotlight aren’t even further warped by their experiences. Imagine being Millie, an enthusiastic 19-year-old taking on an acting role and embracing it so completely… only for your face to be splashed on front covers and journalists tearing you apart. I’m not sure anyone deserves that. At the end of the day, Doctor Who is a job; her personal life isn’t ours or the press’ to pick to bits. We are not vultures, but if we must take on such a persona, it might be better to fashion ourselves as the ones who sing “we’re your friends” at the end of The Jungle Book.”
I feel really sorry for Millie. I found her to be the strongest element in the Fifteenth Doctor era, turning in a natural and compelling performance, and proving to be the glue that held The Reality War in particular together.
She was 19 when the media decided to rake her through the mud, and she doesn’t deserve such shoddy treatment. I’m particularly sad that we didn’t hear anything from the production team about this — someone could’ve easily ended unwarranted rumours of her being difficult behind the scenes without spoiling any storylines. They treated her poorly.
You can see Gibson in The Forsytes on Channel 5 now.
