Lily Allen has opened up about her reasons for moving to the US and the differences between British and American life.
The singer and actress spoke about the topics on her new podcast Miss Me which she hosts twice a week with her longtime friend Miquita Oliver. In the first episode titled “Hips Might Lie”, Oliver and Allen agreed on the idea that Americans are better at throwing awards ceremonies than the Brits.
“They find it easier to be like, what is the right word, gushy…? I think we’re a little bit too aware of ourselves to just thank God and thank our families and cry and be overwhelmed. I feel like everyone’s a bit too stush here,” said Oliver.
She continued: “Also, (the SAG Awards) was just classily done. There was just something a bit chic about the whole thing. Which is not how I felt after watching the Brits…”
The ‘Smile’ singer shared that she believed it was a “cultural thing” for Americans to be more likely enthusiastic about an artist’s creative achievements.
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“I think that one of the reasons that I moved here (America) is because I feel like it’s a much more encouraging environment in which my children can thrive,” she said.
“An example of that would be when I decided to do a play [2:22 A Ghost Story] even though I’d never acted before, and certainly didn’t have any experience in the theatre,” she added. “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 when I’d tell English people about it, they’d be like ‘a play? Have you ever done that before? Aren’t you scared?’”
Elsewhere, Allen recently reflected on how starting a family impacted her as a musician, saying that while she loves her children they did “ruin” her career.
“I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop-stardom, they totally ruined it,” she added, telling the Radio Times Podcast that being a parent and a pop star “does not mix”.
Last month, Allen revealed that she is underway with work on a new album, and told fans that they can expect to hear the new material “soon”. The update came just weeks after the singer teased fans by stating she had already written around 50 songs for a new project.
Her teasing new music comes after she revealed that she had returned to the studio following her special guest performance at Olivia Rodrigo’s Glastonbury 2022 set. After the performance – where she and Rodrigo duetted ‘Fuck You’ – she hinted that she might not be retiring from music just yet.