Lily Allen claims having kids ‘ruined her career’

British pop star Lily Allen has made a shocking confession about her career.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: Lily Allen attends the Burberry show during London Fashion Week February 2024 in Victoria Park on February 19, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Lily Allen has made a frank confession about how becoming a mother impacted her career as a pop star.

British singer Allen became a huge star in the late 2000s, and achieved international success with her first two records.

Lily Allen is married to Stranger Things star David Harbour. Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images.

However, the star hasn’t released an album since 2018, and has now admitted that she believes having children “ruined” her career as a musician.

Allen has insisted that she’s proof that women “can’t have it all” when it comes to juggling having a career and a family.

“My children ruined my career. I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop-stardom, they totally ruined it,” she told the Radio Times Podcast. “I get really annoyed when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t.”

The singer shares two daughters Ethel Mary, 12, and Marnie Rose, 10, with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper.

“Some people choose their career over their children and that’s their prerogative, but my parents were quite absent when I was a kid. I feel like it left some nasty scars that I’m not willing to repeat on mine.”

Allen now lives with her husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour, and her two kids in New York.

Allen hasn’t released an album since 2018. Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images.

Elsewhere in the interview, she opened up about her decision to become sober.

“I was about two years sober, I’d just moved to New York,” she said. “A big part of sobriety is surrendering and letting God – in whatever way you want to believe in that – have a plan for you.”

“I got a call from a casting director who was putting on a play [2:22 A Ghost Story] in the West End. I said: ‘No, I’m not an actress’.”

She continued: “But then I was talking to David – I’d been feeling a bit directionless and didn’t really know what I was doing with my life, except for being a mum and setting up a new home in Brooklyn. He said, ‘maybe you should call them back’ and five weeks later I was in rehearsal.”

Allen’s decision to turn her attention to acting proved a major success. Critics loved her performance in 2:22 A Ghost Story and it went on to score her a Best Actress Olivier Award nomination in 2022.