Lily Allen explains return to music: Sheezus star missed ‘free clothes and handbags’

The pop star reveals the real reason she made her big comeback

Lily Allen is nothing if not honest.

The singer has admitted that the real reason she made her big return to music was because she missed the perks of stardom.

She originally took a two-and-a-half-year break from her singing career to have her two children, Ethel and Marnie.

"I wasn’t good at staying at home all day, it didn’t suit me," she told Glamour magazine. "I’m creative, it’s just who I am… I missed the positive feedback about my music from my fans.

"I missed the rush of performing. I missed the free clothes and handbags and the good tables in posh restaurants. I did!"

But before you condemn Allen for her materialism, hold back. As she said herself in her 2009 single, The Fear, "it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function". She’s simply "a weapon of massive consumption".

The 28-year-old – who has publicly criticised a string of female musicians in the past – including Cheryl Cole, Katy Perry and Kylie Minogue – also spoke of her disappointment at the backlash she’s received from other women.

"I do feel betrayed by my sex," she said. "People have got their own agendas these days. It’s obvious when it's about ego and them wanting to sound clever. It’s sad. Exhausting.

"Your own sex, in the name of feminism, hitting you back down. But I’m not going censor to myself. I’m not going to be beige."

Allen recently faced criticism this weekend, after she was thought to be mocking Beyoncé after she dressed up as the star and sung her song, Drunk In Love, on stage at GAY. She denied the claims, calling them "f***ing boring."

Last night, she performed at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, ahead of the release of her third album, Sheezus, on 2 May.

Read more: Review: Lily Allen at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Review: Allen's new album, Sheezus
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