Lily Allen admits she’s ‘quite stubborn’ and not budging on family conflicts

Singer is estranged from her dad, the actor Keith Allen

Lily Allen has opened up about the “complicated relationships” she has with certain family members, saying she is “not willing to surrender” to resolve them.

The “Smile” singer, 39, was discussing the theme of “endings” in the latest edition of Miss Me?, her BBC podcast.

After a listener called in to say they had regrets about bickering with a family member just before they died, Allen said: “I have complicated relationships with some of my family members and I do sometimes think, ‘Hmm, if they died, it would be quite sad to have those things unresolved.’” She jokingly added: “But I’m quite stubborn so it’s a tricky one, isn’t it?”

Allen revealed in 2021 that she is estranged from her father, the actor Keith Allen. In her 2018 memoir My Thoughts Exactly, she had written that he is a “self-saboteur” who “couldn’t channel his comedic gifts into a proper career”.

Speaking on the podcast, which she co-hosts with TV presenter Miquita Oliver, Allen said: “There are some relationships where I feel like, in order for them to be resolved, I have to surrender, and I’m just not really willing to do that.

“I think I’m pretty fair and good and I have a healthy attitude to most of my relationships. There are a couple that are a bit contentious and in order to resolve them it would have to be me that does all the work and I’m just not willing to do it. F*** it. I’ve got my own s*** to think about.”

In her book, Allen had also claimed that Keith had had a cocaine-related heart attack at Glastonbury Festival in 1998 when she was 14. She later said this admission made her father “quite cross” and that he claimed it was actually due to acute food poisoning.

Keith Allen and Lily Allen (PA)

Several years before that, in 2015, Allen tweeted: “My dad walked out on me when I was four, I’m sick of this. My dad was at Latitude when I headlined and didn’t even come to see me. I’ve probably spent more time walking my dogs than I have with my dad my entire life.”

Allen has made headlines numerous times for her candid comments in her podcast. Last week, she spoke openly about her sex life with her husband, David Harbour. She has also shared her honest thoughts on Bridgerton and admitted to sleeping with Oliver’s crush.