British beauty Billie Piper is Showtime's Belle de Jour

In this image released by Showtime, Billie Piper is shown as Belle in the controversial Showtime series 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl,' which premieres Monday, June 16, at 10:30 p.m. EDT.[Agencies]

On an early summer evening, Billie Piper is sitting in the back garden of a pub near her country home.

She's talking about sex and a city girl — the London-based professional escort Belle, whom she portrays in the Showtime series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," premiering 10:30 p.m. EDT June 16.

"I was thinking it was quite racy for America," says Piper as she ponders just how the series will come across in the U.S.

In the United Kingdom, it aired last September and was blasted in the media for glamorizing prostitution.

"I thought it was a side to prostitution that we are not normally exposed to, and I thought there was a story worth telling there," Piper says in defense. "I kind of knew it was going to cause a bit of an uproar, especially because I was playing the part. People are always so used to me doing children's shows or family drama."

As a teenager, Piper became a star in England in 1998 with the chart-topping pop song "Because We Want To." And she has been a popular subject for the British tabloid press.