Lily Allen has said she is to take a break from her award-winning podcast with childhood friend Miquita Oliver, as she is “really not in a good place”.
The singer and actress made the announcement in Thursday’s episode of the BBC Sounds podcast Miss Me? after also discussing her mental health in previous episodes.
“I’m finding it hard to be interested in anything,” Allen said. “I’m really not in a good place… I know I’ve been talking about it for months, but I’ve been spiralling and spiralling and spiralling, and it’s got out of control.”
It comes amid reports that Allen and her husband, the Stranger Things star David Harbour, have split up. The pair married in Las Vegas in 2020 and had been living together in New York with her two daughters.
During the podcast episode, Allen added: “I just can’t concentrate on anything except the pain that I’m going through. And it’s really hard.”
She said she would be “going away” for a few weeks to take some time out – and reassured listeners that she is not going into a rehab facility. However, it will be somewhere where she is “not allowed” her phone, she said.
The 39-year-old British star has been sober since giving up alcohol about five years ago.
She released her last album, No Shame, in 2018, and since then has moved into acting, performing on stage in the West End in 2:22 A Ghost Story and the revival of Martin McDonagh’s Olivier Award-winning comedy The Pillowman.
She also starred in the Sky series Dreamland.
Allen and former Popworld presenter Oliver launched the Miss Me? podcast in March 2024, with the show billed as a twice weekly “transatlantic catch-up” to discuss everything from the highs and lows of their lives to the biggest cultural moments of the week.
They also answer listeners’ questions on different topics.
In September, they won the best entertainment prize at the British Podcast Awards.
In recent episodes, Allen has said she is hoping to go back into the studio to record more music later this year.
The Brit and Ivor Novello-winning singer is known for hits including Smile, LDN and The Fear, as well her cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know, which was used in the 2013 John Lewis Christmas advert.
