Singer Lily Allen: She talks about her eating disorder

Lily Allen (39) strikes a disturbing note. The British singer, who recently moved to New York with her children Ethel Mary, 13, Marnie Rose, 11, and husband David Harbour, admits she is not in a good mental state and struggles with eating issues.

“I’ve been going through a difficult time in the last few months and eating has become a problem,” reveals the musician in the podcast, which she co-hosts with her best friend Miquita Oliver. Particularly worrying: the eating disorder has been going on for three years, as Allen found out in conversations with her therapist.

The “Smile” interpreter describes a disturbing state of dissociation between body and mind: “For me, my body and my brain are two completely separate things. I spend a lot of time in my head and hardly think about my body.” This means that she no longer notices feelings of hunger. “The hunger signals no longer reach my brain,” explains Allen.

The mother of two emphasizes that she does not actively avoid eating. “I just don’t think about it because I’m so in my head. My body is a few steps behind, so to speak,” she says. Last year, Allen mentioned that she often forgets to eat and has difficulty eating meals that weren’t “ordered and prepared for me.”

The move to New York was actually supposed to mark a positive new beginning. In March, Allen explained on her BBC podcast that she sees America as an encouraging environment for her children. The cultural differences between British and Americans played an important role. While she often encounters skepticism in her home country, she experiences more support and encouragement in the USA.

The singer has had to defend herself against criticism about her weight several times in the past. In 2021, she defended herself against accusations that she was “too thin” by pointing to her supposedly healthy lifestyle at the time: completely sober, a non-smoker and daily training.