Lily Allen reveals she wrote her autobiography so her children 'knew it was mummy's fault not theirs'

Lily Allen has said that she published her tell-all autobiography so that her children wouldn’t think her wild behaviour “was their fault”.

The Apples singer, who is mother to six-year-old Ethel and five-year-old Marnie, as released a memoir titled My Thoughts Exactly detailing times in her life she slept with female escorts and used drugs.

Allen said that she wanted her children to be able to read about the “decisions she made when they were really small” so they didn’t think it was “their fault” in time to come.

Speaking on Monday’s Loose Women, Allen said: “A lot of the decisions that I made when my children were really, really small will have a lasting effect on them.

“And if I don’t tell them the truth then they will internalise those feelings of neglect or whatever it was and I think that I’d rather that they know that it was mummy’s fault rather than think ‘it’s my fault’.”

The star, who is now divorced from Sam Cooper, also opened up about her childcare agreement making balancing parenthood with her work easier.

Allen explained: “Actually divorce has really helped. Me and my ex-husband share custody - 50/50 - we do a week on a week off.

''If I do have to leave the nest, so to speak now, they don't really notice me going because I do it while it's on his week.

''If it goes over a little bit, they only notice me going for three or four days rather than two weeks. It's just scheduling and balance.”

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV.