Lily Allen recalls how her father Keith Allen called the police after she lost her virginity

The 38-year-old recalled the aftermath of her first time on Alan Carr’s Life’s a Beach podcast
Keith and Lily Allen in 2007
AFP via Getty Images
Lisa McLoughlin 17 August 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Lily Allen has revealed how her father Keith Allen called the police after she lost her virginity during a family holiday.

The 38-year-old recalled the aftermath of her first time with a male named Fernando while on a trip abroad with her actor father and her brother, Alfie Allen – and how it ended with the authorities arriving to her hotel believing she had gone missing.

Speaking on comedian Alan Carr’s Life’s a Beach podcast, she quipped: “I lost my virginity to a guy called Fernando in Brazil when I was about 12. No, I am joking.”

Although she didn’t clarify what age she was at the time, she told Carr that she “never spoke to [Fernando] again” after their tryst and instead described the experience as “all a bit traumatic” because her father had called the police on her that same night.

Allen pictured with her brother Alfie in 2007
Getty Images

Allen continued: “I actually went missing. I went to his hotel room – I was on holiday with my dad and brother – and obviously didn’t come back to my room.”

The singer-turned-actress explained that she “slept in the next morning” and woke up to police “all over the hotel” where they were staying.

She recalled: “[Police] were literally combing the beach and they had T-shirts like, ‘Is this what she was wearing?’

“People thought I’d drowned. I didn’t have the heart to say, ‘No, I was just losing my virginity.’”

She comically added: “I didn’t have sex for a while after that.”

Decades on, Allen, who is currently starring in The Pillowman on London’s West End, found love with Stranger Things star David Harbour.

The couple met through dating app Raya while he was filming Black Widow in London in 2019 and wed in September 2020 in Las Vegas.

The pair’s nupitals were officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator and celebrated at popular US fast food chain In-N-Out Burger afterward.

Allen was previously married to Sam Cooper, with whom she shares daughters Ethel and Marnie.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in