Lily Allen explains her decision to uproot her daughters’ lives and move to America after opening up about how they ‘totally ruined’ her pop career

Lily Allen has revealed why she made the huge decision to uproot her two young daughters’ lives and move to America. 

Earlier this week, the singer, 38, admitted Ethel Mary, 12, and Marnie Rose, 10, ‘totally ruined’ her pop career because she chose to prioritise them instead of work. 

Lily spoke of why she decided to move to the US with her two children after finding love with her Stranger Things husband David Harbour, 48.  

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Speaking on her new podcast Miss Me? on BBC Sounds, Lily and her friend Miquita Oliver discussed the recent award shows and observed how open with their emotions Americans were compared to ‘stush’ Brits.

Lily shared: ‘One of the reasons I moved here is because I feel like it’s a much more encouraging environment in which my children can thrive.

‘Just an example of that would be when I decided to do a play even though I’d never acted before and certainly didn’t have any experience in the theatre.

Speaking on her new podcast on Thursday, Lily Allen, 38, revealed why she moved her children to America for a better life – days after she admitted having them ‘totally ruined’ her career 

Lily launched Miss Me? on BBC Sounds, to be updated with a new episode twice weekly, with her lifelong friend, actress Miquita Oliver

Lily shared: ‘[The US] is a much more encouraging environment for my children to thrive’  (pictured with daughters Marnie, 12, and Ethel, 11, and husband David Harbour, 48, in 2022)

‘When I would tell Americans about it, they’d be like: “Oh my God, that’s so exciting! You’re gonna learn so much, you’re gonna kill it!”

‘And then when I’d tell English people about it they’d be like: “A play? Have you ever done that before? Aren’t you scared?” 

‘Culturally, we’re just very different.’

Lily made her acting debut in West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2021 alongside EastEnders’ Jake Wood. 

Her podcast launch comes after Lily admitted the impact of having her two children on her career. 

Lily shares daughters Marnie and Ethel, 11, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper.

She admitted on Tuesday that her two daughters ‘totally ruined’ her pop career.

The singer-turned-actress said she believes women have to decide whether to put their children or their career first, saying she chose the former.

Lily Allen has admitted her two daughters have ‘totally ruined’ her pop career because she chose to prioritise them instead of work – insisting, ‘You can’t have it all’

‘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.

‘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.’

Lily’s father is actor Keith Allen, 70, who walked out on her film producer mother Alison Owen, 63, when Lily was four years old.

‘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”.

‘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.’

‘My children ruined my career. I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, they totally ruined it’  (pictured 2006)

For her performance, Lily received a Best Actress Olivier Award nomination in 2022. 

She has since starred in Martin McDonagh’s play The Pillowman and British comedy television series Dreamland.

Lily has now said that she ‘chose to step back and concentrate on my children’ and she’s glad that she has as ‘they’re pretty well-rounded.’

The Smile singer released her last studio album No Shame in 2018, admitting she neglected her children to do so.

Lily now lives in New York with her children and new husband, Stranger Things star David whom whom she married in 2020.

She said: ‘I was about two years sober, I’d just moved to New York.

‘A big part of sobriety is surrendering and letting God – in whatever way you want to believe in that – have a plan for you.