Lily Allen Admits to Having Children for the Wrong Reasons
Lily Allen has openly admitted that she had her two daughters, 12-year-old Marnie, and 11-year-old Ethel, with ex-husband Sam Cooper "for all the wrong reasons," Sky News reported. During her mid-20s, Allen confesses she sought the "unconditional love" she had missed since childhood and felt overwhelmed by her high-pressure career. By the time Lily became a mother, she had already achieved significant success, with hit singles, two studio albums, and a Brit Award for best British female solo artist.
Speaking on the BBC podcast "Miss Me?" with her long-term friend Miquita Oliver, Allen candidly reflected: "I think I had children for all the wrong reasons. Because I was yearning for unconditional love, which I haven’t felt in my life since I was a child. Also, my career was at such high speed, high pressure, and I felt very overwhelmed. I just didn’t get much respite, you know? And I felt like the only way to stop people hassling me was to say, 'It’s not about me, it’s about this other person that’s inside me.'" She admitted, "I don’t think I really understood what was happening, what I got myself into."
Allen, daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, also shared insights on her childhood. "My mum had children really early and she struggled. But she doesn’t really talk about the struggle. She inadvertently gaslit me into thinking it was, you know, easy. You just sort of throw the kid over your shoulder and go on with it. Her job was static and in one place, unlike mine," Allen lamented. Allen's music career faced disruptions due to her decision to focus on her children. On the Radio Times podcast, she confessed while she loves her children, they did "ruin her career," but noted it was a choice made to avoid being an "absent" parent and to save her children from similar "nasty scars."
Despite the challenges, Allen, who married Stranger Things star David Harbour in 2020, continues to diversify her talents. Beyond music, she has ventured into acting, starring in West End plays and taking on a role in the Sky drama "Dreamland" last year. Recently, she also addressed criticisms from animal rights organization PETA, defending herself against what she called "perpetuating lies" regarding rehoming her dog.
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