Singer Reveals Why She Was Banned From Dating App After Split With Actor Husband

Lily Allen is jumping back into the dating pool following her split from David Harbour — although she hasn’t had much luck with dating apps.

Opening up about her newly single life following the release of her candid breakup album, West End Girl, Allen told Interview that she’s found the apps “awful” in the wake of her separation, and that she’s even found herself banned from one.

“They’re awful, especially if you’re going through heartbreak,” Allen told the outlet. “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.’”

Finding love on Hinge became even more difficult, Allen shared, when she was banned from the app for “impersonating” herself.

“I’m like, ‘I can prove that I’m that person,’” she recalled. “They’re like, ‘You’ll need to send us your ID.’” When Allen sent over her ID, however, the app flagged her birth name, Lily Rose Beatrice Allen, as not being the same as that on her profile and kicked her off the platform.

The musician, who now uses the elite, membership-based dating app Raya, isn’t looking for another high-profile romance. “I’m not really looking to go out with another famous person,” she said. “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 also spoke openly about the end of her relationship with Harbour, from whom she separated in February after four years of marriage. While West End Girl implies that the Stranger Things star was unfaithful and violated the terms of their open marriage, Allen told Interview that “some” of the album “is fantasy.”

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

“At the time, I was really trying to process things,” Allen reasoned. “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.”