Lily Allen explains why having children ‘totally ruined’ her career

Lily Allen shares a surprisingly candid insight into whether women can balance motherhood with their career ambitions.

The British pop singer, best known for hits like “Smile” and “Fuck You,” told the “Radio Times” Podcast this week that having children “ruined” his music career.

“I never really have a strategy when it comes to my career, but yeah, my kids ruined my career,” Allen said in the interview. “I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they completely ruined it.”

He went on to note, “It really bothers me when people say you can have it all because, frankly, you can’t.”

Watch a clip of Allen’s interview on “Radio Times” below:

London native, Allen share daughters Ethel Mary, 12, and Marnie Rose, 11, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper. She and “Stranger Things” actor David Harbor I have been married since 2020 and spent most of his time in New York.

Of course, she’s not the first female celebrity to speak out about the challenges of raising children in the midst of show business. Last year, actress Emily Blunt said the podcast “Table for two” was ready for a change of pace and would take a year off from acting after starring in “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Academy Awards on Sunday.

“I just feel like there are touchstones in their daily lives that are very important when they’re little,” said Blunt, who shares daughters Hazel, 9, and Violet, 7, with her husband John Krasinski. “And it’s: ‘Do you want to wake me up? Will you take me to school? Are you going to pick me up? Will you put me to bed? And I just need to be there for all of them, for a long time. And I felt that in my bones.”

Although Allen has kept a lower profile since the release of his last album, 2018’s “No Shame,” he hasn’t been completely absent from the spotlight.

In 2021, he made his London theater acting debut in the play “2:22: A ghost story” and was nominated for the Olivier Award, the British equivalent of the Tony. A year later, she joined Olivia Rodrigo on stage at the Glastonbury Festival in Britain to perform “Fuck You” in protest of the US Supreme Court’s overturning of the constitutional right to abortion that same year.

And, despite his unsentimental attitude, he has no regrets about focusing on his family. In his talk “Radio Times”He noted that his decision was heavily influenced by his own upbringing, as his parents (actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen) were career-driven.

“My parents were pretty absent when I was growing up, and I feel like that really left some really nasty scars that I’m not willing to repeat on my own,” she explained. “So I chose to take a step back and focus on them, and I’m glad I did.”