Featured Image Credit: Ammar Rowaid/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images/Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Topics: Lily Allen, Food and Drink, Mental Health
Mia Williams
Topics: Lily Allen, Food and Drink, Mental Health
Lily Allen has admitted that she 'forgets to eat' amidst her battle with her mental health, as well as admitting that she's starting therapy since suffering with her thought processes.
In 2020, she moved to New York with her husband David Harbour and her kids, Ethel Mary, 13, and Marnie Rose, 11. And while her life may look perfect from an outsider's perspective, the singer has been battling her own demons behind closed doors.
Allen recently got candid during a recent episode of her podcast, Miss Me?, about struggling with remembering to eat and not feeling hungry.
The 'Smile' singer has admitted to the issue going on for several months, and is having therapy sessions to help her with her mental health.
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"Eating has become an issue," Allen explained. "My therapist and I talk about it and she says 'how long has this been going on?'
"And I said, 'well, about three years really'. And she's like, "OK, why haven't you mentioned it before?"
She added: "And it's not because I'm lying about it. It's just because it's not seemed at the top of the list of important things that I need to talk about, but obviously it is."
The star also noted that her ADHD diagnosis has been playing a huge part in how much she has struggled, noting that she isn't great at seeing the bigger picture.
She went on: "My body and my brain are two very separate things to me. I know a lot of people feel those two things are very connected to each other, but for me it's very different. I spend a lot of time in my head, and not a lot of time thinking about my body."
Talking about her current mental state, Allen added that she's 'not in a great place mentally' at the moment.
Delving deeper into her eating habits, she said: "I'm not hungry. 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 through my body to my brain."
The mum-of-two was also quick to add that she wasn't 'avoiding' food, but that it was simply slipping her mind.
This isn't the first time that Allen has been honest about mental health struggles.
In 2011, she revealed that she was finding it hard to cope with her career in the spotlight, and had suffered from an eating disorder at the height of her fame.
In a Channel 4 documentary at the time, she admitted: "There was a point last summer (2009) where I had an eating disorder, I used to vomit after meals."
This comes after she faced intense criticism when she admitted to getting rid of her puppy because it 'ate' her passport.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 365 days a year from 9am–8pm during the week, and 4pm–8pm on weekends and bank holidays. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat.