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Lily Allen has used her Halloween costume this year to pay homage to one of her most recent songs.

The “Smile” singer turned to TikTok Friday to show off her killer attire as Madeline from the popular children’s book series, which also happens to be the name of a breakup song on her newest album, West End Girl.

“Who IS Madeline though, actually?” she captioned her video as she was seen strutting down a hallway to Cardi B’s song “Magnet.”

To complete the look, Allen’s costume consisted of a blue collared pea coat with a red neckerchief, a straw hat, Mary Jane shoes and a bright orange wig.

Her song “Madeline” appears to allude to her four-year marriage to actor David Harbour after they split last year. The song follows her interrogating a woman named Madeline, after seeing a text message from her appear on a partner’s phone. At the time, fans assumed Madeline was a dub for a woman the Stranger Things actor cheated with.

The song ‘Madeline’ follows Allen interrogating a woman named Madeline, after seeing a text message from her appear on a partner’s phoneThe song ‘Madeline’ follows Allen interrogating a woman named Madeline, after seeing a text message from her appear on a partner’s phone (https://www.tiktok.com/@lilyallen)

“I know none of this is your fault, messaging you feels kind of assaultive / Saw your text, that’s how I found out, tell me the truth and his motives,” the track’s lyrics read. “I can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth / No, I can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth.”

She continues, “We had an arrangement / Be discreet and don’t be blatant / There had to be payment / It had to be with strangers / But you’re not a stranger, Madeline.”

However, speaking to The Times last week, the singer admitted Madeline was “a fictional character.” When asked if she was a “construct of others,” Allen said: “Yes.”In the same interview, Allen said that she wrote the album in just 10 days, last December, when she was “really depressed.”

“I thought I didn’t have any good songs left,” she explains. “My writing had been really bad and it took something to happen in my life, for everything to be blown up, for me to be able to go, ‘Oh, here she is.’”

She added, “Traditionally in my life, when traumatic things happened, I’ve taken time to step away. I certainly don’t think I could have got up on stage days after losing a child [Allen suffered a stillbirth in 2010]. But that is probably more of an anatomical thing. And there are levels to the humiliation – right?”

Allen married Harbour in 2019 after meeting him on Raya, an exclusive dating app popular among celebrities and other high-profile figures. In December 2024, the singer began recording podcast episodes without wearing her wedding ring and was reportedly found on the Raya app again. She filed for divorce last month.