Before they were famous ... Amy and Billie at fame academy

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Songstress Amy – now painfully thin and best known for her drug troubles – was then a healthy 14-year-old with filled-out cheeks and a radiant glow.

She was so brilliant at school she had been moved up a year and she taunted pals by pretending to be a witch.

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Innocent beginnings: Billie Piper (centre bottom), Amy Winehouse (top), Jodi Albert (left) and Gem Allen (right)

Meanwhile Billie, then 15 and in heavy make-up, was already on the brink of becoming a pop sensation. The following year she hit No.1 with Because We Want To.

Ten years later she has a pop, TV and movie career under her belt and a second marriage to actor Laurence Fox planned this month.

Billie recently played a high-class prostitute in ITV drama Secret Diary of a Call Girl, adapted from Belle De Jour's best-selling book and internet blogs.

The pair were joined by future Hollyoaks actress Jodi Albert and wannabe singer Gem Allen in the picture taken in 1997 when all were pupils at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, north London.

Gem, who found the picture in her personal album, admits she is "shocked and heartbroken" when she sees pictures of Amy today, now 24.

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Saucy: Billie flashes the flesh as a high-class prostitute in The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl

But she hopes Amy's amazing six Grammy nominations will snap her out of her downward spiral.

She said: "I wouldn't have predicted she would go as wild as this. Some pictures of her now are heartbreaking.

"I just think, 'She's my old school friend, I hope she's OK.'"

"I hope Amy's sorting herself out but it is shocking to see things such as when she pulled out of the MTV awards.

"I couldn't believe it because that had always been her dream. Amy was a character at school. She was a wild girl but it was different from the trouble she's in now.

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What a difference a decade makes: Chain-smoking Amy is allegedly suffering from a drug problem

"She would call herself a witch. She used to joke she could put spells on people."

Gem, 24, who sings with girl band Stonefoxx, said: "One time she lay on the floor in the history class and started crawling along towards Billie, saying 'Wilhemina (her nickname for Billie), I'm coming to get you,' in a witchy voice."

As for Billie, now 25, Gem remembers her as a serious student.

She said: "We thought it was amazing when Billie became famous. It was like one day she was with us and the next day she was No1. A lot of people looked up to Billie."

Growing up: Billie is forging a successful career as an actress