Lily Allen gave rare insight into the timeline of her and David Harbor’s breakup in a new interview.
The singer appeared on “CBS Morning” Thursday to talk about her heartbreaking album “West End Girl,” which was inspired by her marriage to the 50-year-old “Stranger Things” star.
The Grammy nominee, 40, hinted that she split from Harbor before Christmas last year as she finished recording her album before the holidays.
When asked how he felt about finishing the project, Allen said, “My life was falling apart and I had to deal with something really real. It was Christmas. I had two kids. I have two kids.”
“I realized I needed to work on myself and looked into where I could get the help I needed,” she continued.
“I’ve been institutionalized before, but not of my own free will. Usually I was pushed around by doctors and concerned family members, but I knew what I was feeling was too intense,” she added, insisting she was “not afraid to do the work” and “needed some quiet time.”
Allen’s stay at an emotional treatment center made headlines in February, the same month that news broke that Allen had separated from the actor after four years of marriage.
But opinions have been divided for weeks after the songwriter made cryptic comments about her “Miss Me?” Podcast.
“I’m finding it hard to be interested in anything. I’m really not in a good place,” she said in January after it was reported that Harbor was spotted on Raya, the celebrity dating app where the two first connected.
“I know we’ve been talking about this for months, but I’m spiraling more and more,” Allen added at the time. “It got out of control. I tried.”
Allen released a viral record last month.
She was waiting to release the song, which she wrote as an “act of desperation,” and “hindered[Allen’s]healing process,” she confessed during a sit-down Thursday.
“In some ways, it felt like hell. … I felt like I couldn’t get on with my life,” she explained, calling the October 24 release “completely and completely liberating,” “affirming” and “validating.”
As for how he’s doing after the “brutal” breakup, Allen said he’s feeling “so great” after putting in “a lot of work.”
“When you’re in that kind of suffering and going through that kind of pain, people always say, ‘It’s going to pass, you’re going to come out the other side,'” she gushed. It’s hard to believe, but a year later I’m here, living my best life. ”
The “Smile” singer raved about her upcoming tour, sharing her excitement that her and ex-husband Sam Cooper’s two daughters, Ethel, 13, and Marnie, 12, will be able to ride the bus with friends.
“All the pain I’ve been through, they’ve been through,” Allen said. “One of the things I wanted to do was show kids that you can take that pain away and take it and turn it into something else. I think I did that.”
Although Harbor has yet to comment on the album, his estranged wife hints on it that Harbor cheated on her outside of what she called an “arranged arrangement” in their “open” marriage.
When asked about the breakup in an interview with GQ Hype in April, he simply replied, “Oh, sort of.”
The former couple tied the knot in September 2020 in Los Angeles.
