Lily Allen says husband David Harbour is recognised more than her in public

The star married David Harbour in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony in 2020
Lily Allen and David Harbour
Getty Images for Netflix
Lizzie Edmonds @lizzieedmo14 November 2023
The Weekender

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Lily Allen has said her Stranger Things actor husband David Harbour is recognised more and gets more “attention” from fans when out and about. 

Allen has opened up about married life with Harbour - who plays Jim Hopper in the Netflix show - in a new interview with Grazia. 

It comes after speculation that the couple - who wed in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony in 2020 - were on the rocks after fans spotted the singer and actor unfollowed one another on Instagram. 

But speaking to the magazine, Allen spoke in detail about their married life living in New York - and how in many ways Harbour is the bigger star. 

“‘I can hide here,” she said. “I can live, in a true sense of the word – like live, without judgement.”

“[Fans] They don’t even notice me. I’m just the photographer. No one knows who I am. Growing up with the attention that I had in my twenties can lead to, sort of, narcissistic feelings. It’s nice to be in a relationship where somebody else gets all of that attention. It’s good for my ego.”

Allen, whose father is the actor Keith Allen, shot to fame in 2005 after demoing her music on Myspace. 

Lily Allen on the cover of Grazia
Amanda Fordyce

She later signed a record deal with Regal Recordings and her first single Smile reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006.

Allen has two children - Ethel, 11, and Marnie, 10 - with her ex-husband, Sam Cooper. 

Despite her success in music and - more recently - on stage, Allen said her children take priority at this stage in her life. 

“I'm a mum, really - it sounds so tragic and sad. I sort of feel like I've had my career. I know I'm only 38.

“I want to be around my kids. I want to break a cycle in terms of, you know, showing up for my children.

“When I was younger, you were told that you could have it all. I believed that when I got pregnant, and then when I had my children, I realised that was a lie. 

“You can't and you have to make sacrifices. It's usually the children that suffer as a result of those sacrifices – and I'm just not willing to do it to them.”

Read the full interview in Grazia now. 

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