Lily Allen reveals why she was banned from Hinge after David Harbour split

Lily Allen is ready to get back out there after her split from David Harbour — but the apps aren’t making it easy.

In the spirit of promoting her new album, West End Girl, which pulls no punches when addressing her four-year marriage and eventual separation from the Stranger Things star, Allen has been candid about the details of her personal life, revealing that she has not only begun exploring dating apps, but that she’s already been banned from one.

“They’re awful, especially if you’re going through heartbreak,” Allen said of the apps in a recent chat with Interview. “There is nothing more depressing than hundreds of people that are nothing like the person that you’re missing. It’s just like, ‘No, that’s not him. That’s not him. That’s not him.'”

As for the additional stress of dating as a public figure, the singer said, “I’m not really looking to go out with another famous person. Also, when I go on dates with other people, there’s a bit of a barrier in terms of — not so much here, but in England — it’s a bit of a novelty to be on a date with me… To want to get past that, I have to really, really be interested in that person.”

Allen, who said she uses the membership-based dating app Raya, also noted that she spent some time on Hinge — that is, before she got banned for “impersonating” herself.

“I’m like, ‘I can prove that I’m that person,'” she said. “They’re like, ‘You’ll need to send us your ID.'”

There was just one problem: The singer was born Lily Rose Beatrice Allen, so the name on her profile was not a perfect match. “I’m like, ‘Actually, my name and the name on my ID aren’t the same,'” she recalled saying. Alas, she was booted off the app.

Allen’s foray back into online dating comes on the heels of her February separation from Harbour, after the two were married for four years. But this is not her first time traversing the world of dating apps: She previously opened up about exploring Raya in 2023, explaining that her relationship with Harbour began there.

“It was the first time I’d been on this dating app,” she recalled during a visit to The Jonathan Ross Show. “I was scrolling through and landed on David’s profile and pressed accept. I didn’t know who he was. I thought he was just like a sexy policeman from a reality TV show because he was wearing a policeman’s uniform. It was a still from Stranger Things… I’d never seen Stranger Things.”

She added that she didn’t expect it to go anywhere. “I don’t even know what I was looking for. It was just something to do on holiday — swiping. It’s a bit of fun.”

After meeting in 2019, the couple tied the knot a year later in a 2020 ceremony in Las Vegas.

Allen’s new record addresses their relationship and breakup across several songs in which she implies that her ex-husband cheated on her and violated the terms of their open marriage.

“It’s not a cruel album,” Allen told Interview. “I don’t feel like I’m being mean. It was just the feelings I was processing at the time.”

She worked on West End Girl alongside producer Blue May — who served as the musical director of her 2018 tour — over the course of 16 days in December.

“At the time, I was really trying to process things,” she said. “And that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge.”

She continued, “It was very important to me that I didn’t sound like a victim, so I’d be like, ‘We have to change that line. It just sounds too ‘poor me.’ I wanted it to feel brutal and tragic, but also empowering, that there was joy in being able to express it.”

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Allen also clarified that the album isn’t wholly autobiographical. “Some of it is based on truth,” she said, “and some of it is fantasy.”

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