Lily Allen opens up about mental health struggles

Lily Allen has opened up about her mental health struggles, which have caused her to lose her appetite and stop eating, during the latest episode of her hit podcast, Miss Me? On her popular BBC Sounds podcast, the singer, author and actor discusses a range of issues — from body image to relationships and the entertainment industry — with her longtime friend Miquita Oliver. In an episode released on Monday (16 December), Allen, 39, who has previously spoken candidly about her struggles with addiction and self hatred, admitted she had not been feeling well for around three years.

Allen explained that “eating has become an issue” but she didn’t mention it to her therapist because she felt her loss of appetite wasn’t the most important thing she needed to discuss in her sessions. “But, obviously it is,” she reflected, adding her body and brain feel “very separate” to her. “I’m not eating. I’m not hungry,” she continued. “I obviously am hungry, but my body and brain are so disconnected from each other that my body...the messages of hunger are not going to my body to my brain.” Allen made clear she is not “avoiding” food but often doesn’t think about eating due her mind being elsewhere with other concerns.

Back in 2021, the singer responded to a number of body-shaming critics online, who claimed they had “concerns” for Allen, with several fans saying she looked “too thin”. Allen responded to the comments, telling one: “You’ve never seen me two years completely sober, not smoking and exercising every day”. Replying to another, the singer added: “Seriously, where do you get off? You know NOTHING about me or my lifestyle. How dare you.” Allen has previously spoken to Cosmopolitan about dealing with an eating disorder around the release of her second album, It’s Not Me, It’s You.

Miquita Oliver

She told the publication: “I was gearing up to do promo for the second album. That’s when I started not eating, when I started thinking about having to do photo shoots and red carpets.” Allen added that when she “was feeling really bad” everything she ate “would come back up”. In 2011, she also told Channel 4 about suffering from bulimia. “It’s not something I am proud of,” she said. “But I tell you what, a lot of people used to come up to me and tell me how great I looked.”

The “Smile” singer explained: “I was on the cover of every magazine with them saying, ‘Lily is looking amazing. Look at how much weight she has lost.’ I thought I looked good.” She continued: “It was great to try on clothes and walk out of the shop feeling a million dollars. When you have been a victim of people saying the complete opposite, you want more of it. “But I wasn’t happy, I really wasn’t. I would like to be the skinniest, mini-est person in the world. But I know I can’t do that without being unhappy. I like my food.”

This September, Allen opened up to Oliver about trying to protect her mental health while being the subject of scrutiny in the tabloid press throughout her career. “I think that I get a little dopamine rush from people telling me that I look good or that they like my old music and that they listen to the podcast... but then I also have to be subjected to seeing way more horrible stuff (than positive),” she said. Allen explained she will go looking for negative press about herself if she’s feeling low due to struggles with self-hatred.. “I will do it because it proves to me what a piece of s*** I am,” she said.

“So, I go looking for it, because then I know that it’s true, I know that the way that I’m feeling is real. And there’s a lot of it out there. So yeah, I just have to try and cut myself off from it, I think, to keep myself safe.”