Lily Allen speaks out on time in treatment centre for “emotional turmoil” after David Harbour split

14 February, 2025

Lily Allen and David Harbour

Lily Allen has revealed that she recently spent time in a treatment centre for “emotional turmoil” after splitting with David Harbour.

News of the couple’s separation after four years of marriage, was reported earlier this month.

Allen and Stranger Things actor David Harbour began dating in 2019 after meeting on the dating app Raya and tied the knot in an intimate Las Vegas ceremony in September 2020.

Now, Allen has shared how she recently went into a treatment centre, which really helped.

Speaking to co-host Miquita Oliver on the duo’s latest Miss Me? podcast, Allen said: “I did lots of group therapy and some individual therapy. I needed some time and space away from everything. I did a lot of shadow work, lots of work about my inner child stuff.”

Lily Allen and David Harbour CREDIT: Getty Images

She added: “It wasn’t easy by any stretch and it’s a journey. It’s a lifelong journey of healing. It’s not a quick fix, but I’ve started meditating. I meditate every day now, at least two or three times a day. That’s really helping me.”

Allen – who shares daughters Ethel, 13, and Marnie, 11, with ex-husband Sam Cooper – also said that her decision to receive treatment was for her children’s sake.

She said: “I know people think I hate my children. I really don’t. I absolutely adore my children. I’m in a situation now where I really have to be my strongest self for them. I felt like it was getting harder and harder for me to be able to show up for them in the way that they needed me to.

“It was a really big decision to have to leave them for a few weeks to go and focus on myself. But ultimately, it was for them. Yes, it’s for me, but it’s for them so that I can get us through this bit. I needed some help to be able to do that.”

She continued: “None of this is their fault. It’s my job to support them and make them feel safe and secure. I just don’t think I was able to do that because of the emotional turmoil I was in at the time. But I do feel like I am now.

“I’m not saying I’m 100 percent there. I’m not saying that I’m getting it 100 percent right or ever will. But I’m definitely in a stronger place.”

Her latest comments come after the singer-songwriter previously said she would be taking a temporary break from Miss Me? and other work commitments to focus on her mental health. “I’m really not in a good place,” Allen told co-host Miquita Oliver on an episode of the podcast last month. “I know I’ve been talking about it for months, but I’ve been spiralling and spiralling and spiralling, and it’s got out of control.”

The star said the only thing she could concentrate on was “the pain that I’m going through” amid then-unconfirmed reports that she had split from Harbour. Allen went on to tell listeners that she would be “going away” soon, and said fans wouldn’t hear from her for “a few weeks”.

However, she denied any speculation that she was going to rehab. “I’ve not relapsed,” she assured Oliver. The ‘LDN’ artist also said she was “not allowed” to use her phone where she was going.