Since the release of her latest album, West End Girl, Lily Allen has reflected on the intense shake-up of her entire life. The album was revealing and vulnerable, recorded in just 10 days following her divorce from actor David Harbour. It addressed heartbreak, loss, relationships, and infidelity in Allen’s trademark biting style, merging blunt-force wit with emotional catharsis.
Allen has said it’s “not a cruel album,” and that it is more of a story about relationships than a line-by-line true account of her marriage. Still, it served as a cleansing release of heavy emotional turmoil. Fans’ reception of the album has been pretty positive, and critics have also praised its raw vulnerability. Now, Lily Allen is opening up about starting over after divorce.
On the January 4, 2026, episode of her BBC podcast, Miss Me?, co-hosted with Miquita Oliver, Allen discussed what life has been like for her lately.
“I’ve done quite a lot this year,” she began. “I’ve finished an album, I got a boob job, I had a nervous breakdown, I went into hospital for a bit, I came out, I did some podcasting for a while, then I played one of the hardest tracks in theatre and killed myself [in the role of Hedda Gabler] every night for seven weeks.”
Lily Allen Says Life Post-Divorce Has Been ‘A Lot of Changes’
Allen isn’t the only person going through it post-divorce, however. She shares two daughters with ex-husband Sam Cooper, and they have had challenges adjusting to the changes as well.
“My kids are f***ing mental at the moment,” she said. “They are really developing their personalities. It’s just a lot. There’s a lot of questions. There’s a lot of change in our lives at the moment. We’ve changed houses, we’ve changed countries, we’ve changed schools, and it’s a lot.”
Allen also noted that her kids are now having to change their perception of her as their mother, while also learning about who they are as individuals.
“The last five years, I’ve been a stay-at-home mum,” said Allen. “And now I’m a single mum that has to work and suddenly has a lot of work opportunities on my plate, and I’m having to travel a lot.”
Overall, said Allen, there’s just a lot of new experiences happening in their lives at the moment. “But they also like having a nice roof over their heads and nice clothes and being able to go to nice restaurants and things. So they understand it,” she said. “But it’s just a lot of change. There’s a lot of change and also new friends, new friendship groups, and the idea of, like, boyfriends.”
Photo by Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
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