Lily Allen once banned from Groucho Club, says she “stands to lose everything” if she drinks again
Lily Allen has said she “stands to lose everything” if she drinks again, and recalled the time she was banned from London’s Groucho Club.
The singer and actor has been sober for nearly five years, having struggled with binge drinking and drug abuse in the past. Last March, Allen explained that her “life [had] changed so much” since she decided to quit.
During a recent episode of the Miss Me? podcast, the ‘Smile’ star and her co-host Miquita Oliver were asked whether they had ever been barred from a pub.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been barred from a pub,” Allen responded. “I’ve been barred from a club – Groucho’s. I was banned for a year. Who’s laughing now, Groucho’s?”
Located on Dean Street in Soho, The Groucho Club describes itself as a “world-renowned arts & media private members club” that “remains a bastion and refuge for arts, literature and media folk in the bohemian heart of London’s West End”.
Later, Oliver praised Allen for still being able to go to the pub without drinking alcohol. When asked what her secret was, the singer replied: “I don’t know, really. I’m just used to it now.
“It’s been nearly five years of sobriety, coming up this summer. I don’t know if there’s a secret. In my early days of sobriety, I did a lot of work – I went to a lot of meetings, I did my step work and I had a sponsor.
“But then in lockdown I obviously didn’t go to any [meetings] and I haven’t really been in the habit of going ever since, though sometimes I do online ones.”
She continued: “I suppose I live with the benefits [of being sober]. So I know what I stand to lose if I start to drink again, which is everything.
“My life has pretty much never been as good as it is [now]. I’ve got a beautiful house, my kids are happy, they’re engaged, I’m connected with them, I have a good relationship with my husband, I have money, I have creative outlets.
“Everything is good and I don’t think that would be the case if I wasn’t sober.”
Allen added: “First of all: I never really get cravings. Actually… sometimes when I’m in a restaurant in the summer and somebody gets a really beautiful-looking crisp glass of white wine, then I might be like, ‘Ooh, that looks nice’.
“But then I think, ‘Yeah, so does your house. Your house looks nice’.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, Allen told Oliver that not getting the “hangover fear” was a “number one” benefit of quitting alcohol. She also talked about her experience of being sober at Glastonbury Festival.
You can listen to the episode in full on BBC Sounds, or via Spotify above.
Allen explained last year that fame once “became an addiction in itself”. In 2008 she said she had an “addictive personality”, but that she “[didn’t] want to be hanging over a toilet seat snorting coke when I’m 50”.
In other news, Lily Allen has revealed that she has been working on new music in Nashville, Tennessee. Her fourth and latest studio album, ‘No Shame’, was released in 2018.
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Tom Skinner
NME
