Father hails 'fighter' Lily after 'very tough time'
Singer Lily Allen has “come out fighting” after a miscarriage, relationship breakdown and poor reviews of her TV show, according to her father.
Actor Keith Allen praised his daughter for surviving a “very, very tough time”, in an interview with ITV’s 'This Morning' to be broadcast tomorrow.
Bosses at BBC Three have just re-commissioned the 22-year-old’s chat show, 'Lily Allen And Friends', after the first series was not well-received by the critics.
Allen told presenter Phillip Schofield he supported his daughter by phoning her two or three times a day.
“It was a very, very tough time for her,” he said.
“To wake up the day after your show basically being told that you’re talentless and useless, it’s pretty tough.
“She carried on, and power to her.”
He also said the timing of the criticism had been very bad, since the singer had just split up with her boyfriend, 37-year-old Ed Simons, of the band The Chemical Brothers.
Defending her performance as a chat host, Allen said the negative reaction of male TV critics was unexpectedly intense.
“It seems unfair because I think the show is absolutely fine,” he said.
“It’s not going to change the way you think or anything like that but I think it’s an absolutely fine piece of television.
“And I think it’s right that she’s been re-commissioned because I think she’s learnt a lot from it.
“I think she’s taken it on board and she’ll come out fighting and the second series will be better, great.”
The 54-year-old actor said he worried that his famous children would follow his bad example by dabbling in drugs, but thought they were probably too sensible to imitate the bad behaviour of his youth.
He praised his 21-year-old son, Alfie, who is currently appearing in the classic stage play 'Equus', for being “a much better actor” than himself.
Keith Allen will appear on ITV’s 'This Morning' at noon tomorrow.
