It may well go down as one of the music industry\u2019s most brutal acts of vengeance. Allen, 40, and Harbour, 50, announced their split<\/a> in February after four years of marriage, and since the album\u2019s release he has been forced into hiding. There are now questions as to whether it was all perfectly timed to derail the release of the final season of the show that made him a household name \u2014 Stranger Things \u2014 on November 27. <\/p>\n Tracks such as Madeline feature Allen confronting the \u201cother woman\u201d over text, asking: \u201cHow long has it been going on? Is it just sex or is there emotion?\u201d <\/p>\n Allen and Harbour in New York in 2024<\/p>\n GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n This week Natalie Tippett, 34, claimed she was the subject of the song, while Allen told The Sunday Times that \u201cMadeline\u201d isn\u2019t an individual, but a \u201cconstruct\u201d. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could say it\u2019s all true \u2014 I have artistic licence,\u201d Allen said. \u201cBut yes, there are definitely things I experienced within my relationship that have ended up on this album.\u201d<\/p>\n Regardless, Allen revealed she had spent time at a treatment centre to deal with the \u201cemotional turmoil\u201d of the split, and I get it. I know exactly how she feels \u2014 because my husband left me for a younger (less successful) woman too. She was more than ten years younger \u2014 another mum he met at the school gate when our children were in the same class. He was out of work after being suddenly made redundant. I had supported him for almost a year by working full-time in a high-pressure industry while he switched roles to become a stay-at-home dad. <\/p>\n \u2022 Lily Allen: \u2018Intimacy is messy\u2026 I\u2019ve had a tough year\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n He did the school drop-offs and pick-ups, went to bake sales, PTA meetings and playdates; bought tickets for school discos and attended sports day when I couldn\u2019t, because I was too busy being the breadwinner, working 70 hours a week. <\/p>\n He got plaudits he simply didn\u2019t deserve, as other mums openly swooned in front of him for being \u201csuch a good dad\u201d; they praised him for doing the unpaid work and emotional labour women do without ever expecting to receive credit, like throwing birthday parties, buying presents and going to parents\u2019 evenings. <\/p>\n No woman gets applause for babysitting \u2014 as everyone mistakenly calls it \u2014 when their husband is at a work do, yet my husband was treated like Mother Teresa, simply for being a functioning father. <\/p>\n The first inkling I had that something was wrong \u2014 that there was a \u201cMadeline\u201d on the cards \u2014 was when he started dropping her name into conversation casually, but constantly. \u201cI saw Claire today,\u201d he would mention while making a stir-fry, after the kids had gone to bed, following up with: \u201cClaire was telling me this hilarious story\u2026\u201d. He even started watching Love Island because Claire did. <\/p>\n I didn\u2019t think much of it (at first), didn\u2019t give it more than a passing, \u201cOh, that\u2019s nice,\u201d because I was too busy worrying about the next presentation I had to give and the work trip to New York. While he dithered over which clothes to send our son in on non-uniform days, I was panicking about high-stakes meetings. Our worlds were no longer the same. And that\u2019s where the trouble started. <\/p>\n \u2022 The main reason we cheat on our partners \u2014 by a psychoanalyst<\/a><\/p>\n Claire, on the other hand, worked from home (of course, she did). She had time to indulge my husband with brainstorming sessions about school assemblies and raffles; with wine-fuelled playdates as they planned to man a stall together at the PTA fair. <\/p>\n I should have known something was up when my husband \u2014 previously antisocial to the point of being openly rude, who would stand in the corner of a party on his phone rather than make polite conversation with other husbands \u2014 started being invited to \u201cschool drinks\u201d and actually wanted to go. I, on the other hand, was never invited. I was too busy working to provide for our family of three. <\/p>\n The pair married in Las Vegas in September 2020<\/p>\n Then, one Christmas, he had a big night out with the other mums. I was relieved; it helped to assuage my guilt about always missing bedtime with our son. I encouraged him to go and even helped him to pick out an outfit; I urged him to wear the expensive cashmere V-neck jumper in navy blue that brought out his eyes \u2014 the one I\u2019d bought him for his birthday. <\/p>\n He wore it, but didn\u2019t get home until three in the morning \u2014 he said \u201ctime had run on\u201d at the bar. I was suspicious enough to call the pub the next day to find out what time they closed. They said midnight. <\/p>\n His \u201cfind my iPhone\u201d pin, meanwhile, told me he was at a house bordering the local golf club, three roads down. When I confronted him about it, he said \u2014 his eyes wide and innocent \u2014 that he hadn\u2019t wanted Claire to walk home by herself, that he had escorted her \u201cfor safety\u201d and she had invited him in for a \u201cnightcap\u201d before he came home. \u201cNothing happened,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n![\"Lily](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/\/198f7079-b831-4026-bc11-76c9275e00fb.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lily](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/\/9ea7c388-fa28-4512-8262-d8f247761add.jpg\")
<\/p>\n