‘Doctor Who’ Star Millie Gibson Says She Couldn’t Defend Against “Diva” Accusations, Early Exit Rumors For Fear Of “Ruining The Show”
Though she was well aware that there was no truth to the rumors regarding either her alleged on-set “diva” behavior or her abrupt firing from Doctor Who, Ruby Tuesday actress Millie Gibson has revealed that she could not publicly push back against these false accusations for fear of spoiling the show’s future plans.
Said rumors first began to swirl roughly six months ahead of her debut as the 15th Doctor’s first proper companion courtesy of UK tabloid The Mirror, who in June 2023 were supposedly informed by BBC insiders that while she was admittedly dedicated to the job, series staff felt she was too ‘demanding’ for a fledgling actress
“She is determined to get it right,” claimed the insiders. “But the days are long and at times, when night filming has been suggested, she has made her feelings clear.”
“Millie is a pro on set and although night shoots are part of the job, they can be tiring for even the most experienced actors.
“She won’t be the first or last person to be a bit annoyed by a night shoot, but it has won her some snippy comments behind the scenes. The word ‘diva’ has been used once or twice when tempers are fraying.”
From there, January 2024 would once again see Gibson the center of a supposed scoop from The Mirror, who after learning that Gibson would not be appearing in that year’s Christmas special were subsequently told by a now-confirmed-mistaken BBC insider that Ruby’s decision to spend time with her newly-found birth parents would be a more permanent move than previously assumed.
“Millie Gibson has all but left now and there’s a brand new companion, which is really exciting,” said the insider, referring to Series 15 temporary companion Belinda Chandra. “[Showrunner] Russell [T Davies] is keeping things moving and isn’t letting the grass grow, that’s for sure.”
And though she never publicly commented on these rumors and both of them eventually fell by the way side after Ruby Tuesday reunited with The Doctor via her new position at UNIT, Gibson recently told UK-based news outlet The i Paper that her silence was not for lack of job security, but rather a necessity in order to avoid spoiling the show’s then-in progress plot.
“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.'”
“It was awful. What was frustrating was the amount of people that were like, ‘Oh, sorry, [your firing] happened mate, and I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s not [true], but thank you.'”
“It will happen again, about something else, probably. It’s just about smiling and waving and not really letting it get to you.”
At present, the BBC and Disney have yet to give an official series renewal to Doctor Who.
Meanwhile, the five-episode, UNIT-centric spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea is set to release sometime in 2026.
