Lily Allen has said that she will be stepping away from the Miss Me? podcast so she can “focus on some other stuff for a little bit”.
The singer, writer and actor has co-presented the BBC podcast with Miquita Oliver for over a year now, but confirmed in today’s (September 15) episode that she would be leaving the show for the foreseeable future to focus on another project.
She will be replaced by a rotating cast of guest hosts during the time away from the podcast, and on the latest episode, Oliver said: “I think it’s good that we’re gonna have some time away from doing this together, because I don’t think we’ll really understand what we’ve done here without having that.”
“I’m really fucking proud of you,” she added, saying that she wants Allen to “go and have some adventures and focus on your shit” so they can “take Miss Me? to new places”.
“When you do something you have to be brave to let it become other things,” she added. “And it will always be something that was started with our friendship, but I think there are more places for it to go.”
Allen first shared news that she would be taking a break from the podcast in last week’s episode, saying that the decision was made so that she can focus on some new projects.
“I’m going to be stepping away from the podcast to do some other things,” she said in that episode. “But it’s not goodbye forever, it’s just goodbye for now while I go and do some new stuff for a little bit.
“I just have to focus on some other stuff for a little bit, and I’m very grateful for the experience. I’ve had so much fun, and I’ve really enjoyed our live shows, especially, at the beginning of the year.”
She also said that she wasn’t leaving because of any negative reasons, but “quite the opposite”.
“I’m doing some things that need more of my time, [because] it takes a lot of work putting the time and effort into this show… and I just don’t think that I will be able to give it 100 per cent with the other stuff that’s going on in my life at the moment.”
“I’m not closing the door forever, I will come back and say hi now and then,” Allen added, and in the latest episode the closed off the appearance by thanking her co-host and the crew behind the podcast. Listen to the latest episode above, and check out last week’s episode below.
While it isn’t yet clear what Allen has planned for her time away from Miss Me?, it is likely that she could be turning her sights to new music and potentially working on the follow-up to 2018’s ‘No Shame‘.
This comes as the start of the year saw her share that she is “trying to manifest” getting a new album “out by the end of the year”. Last spring she revealed that she was working on new music in Nashville, but found the process a bit “intimidating”.
In January of last year, the ‘Not Fair’ singer teased that she had written around 50 new songs for her upcoming album, although none have been shared at time of writing.
Rumours of new music stem back to 2020, when Allen said that she had finished working on a new album and was writing for three musicals; though that supposed album has never been released.
Two years later, she said that she had returned to the studio following her special guest performance at Olivia Rodrigo’s Glastonbury set in 2022. After the collaboration, Allen credited the performance with Rodrigo for “sparking something” in her that rekindled her yearning to write and record new music.
More recently, the singer said that she has noticed her music having a “resurgence” online, with more young people becoming fans in recent years.
Outside of music, Allen has also made a name for herself in acting – both on stage and on screen. She made her theatre debut in the 2021 play 2:22 A Ghost Story, followed by 2023’s The Pillowman. On-screen, she has appeared as Elizabeth Taylor in the 2019 film How To Build A Girl and as Mel in the 2023 comedy series Dreamland.
