Lily Allen Gets Candid About Rock Bottom Moment And Struggles With Alcohol

"Smile" singer Lily Allen recently opened up about a particularly dark chapter in her life tied to her struggles with alcohol.

Lily Allen also revealed that her upbringing exposed her to an environment often surrounded by drinking and drugs, shedding light on how these influences shaped her earlier years.

In an interview with The Times UK on Saturday, Nov. 30, the 39-year-old “Smile” singer reflected on her journey to sobriety, marking five years alcohol-free. Allen candidly shared details about her rock-bottom moment, admitting she “drank herself into oblivion” before showing up at the home of her ex-husband, Sam Cooper, who had moved on with a new relationship.

“I went over to his house and started screaming at him, woke the kids up, you know, really distressed the children,” said the “22” musician, who shares daughters, Ethel Mary, 13, and Marnie Rose, 11, with Cooper, 45. “They remember that. And they know that I was under the influence then, and that it’s important that Mummy avoids getting into those situations.”

Allen shared that the situation became even more humiliating when a friend questioned her decision to order a gin and tonic shortly afterward, deepening her sense of shame.

“I remember feeling so incensed,” she said. “When they were in the bathroom I was like, ‘Why do I feel so angry at somebody insinuating that I need this drink?’ And it was because I did. It really had control over me. I just felt like I was no longer in control of my own destiny. I went to a meeting the next morning.”

In a candid conversation with DJ Fat Tony on "The Recovery" podcast, Allen revealed that she wasn’t mentally prepared to leave her children, and when she eventually did, she turned to alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism.

"I got married when I was 24 and I had a baby, I had a baby who died 10 years ago this month," she shared at the time. "And then I went on to have two successful pregnancies, and then about six months after my youngest was born, we ran out of money, and I had to go back out on the road again. But I was 14 and did not feel like a pop star at all..."

"I felt so guilty about neglecting my kids in those early years of their lives and having to go off on tour and misbehaving in the way I was," she added.

Now, with five years of sobriety behind her, Lily Allen has found a sense of peace both for herself and her family.

“My kids feel safe,” she shared with The Times UK. “That’s the main thing for me. I felt very unsafe in my childhood, and my kids feel safe.”

Earlier this year, during an appearance on the "Radio Times Podcast," the singer-turned-actress discussed the challenges women face in balancing their careers and motherhood, stating that, for her, the choice was straightforward.

"My children ruined my career. I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they totally ruined it," she confessed. "I get really annoyed when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can't."

Lily Allen has been candid about how her upbringing shaped her struggles with addiction, revealing that she was often surrounded by drinking and drugs during her childhood.

“I think that addiction runs deep in my family, so self-medicating was going to be on the cards,” she explained. “For me, it didn’t really feel like an ‘if,’ it was a ‘when.’”

Lily Allen married actor David Harbour, who has been sober for over 20 years, in a low-key Las Vegas ceremony in September 2020. The intimate wedding featured an Elvis impersonator officiating the ceremony, with Allen’s two daughters, Ethel Mary and Marnie Rose, by their side.

"In a wedding officiated by the king himself, the people's princess wed her devoted, low born, but kind credit card holder in a beautiful ceremony lit by the ashen skies courtesy of a burning state miles away in the midst of a global pandemic," Harbour captioned his post at the time. "Refreshments were served at a small reception following."

The couple first sparked romance rumors in 2019 before making their relationship official.