Lily Allen Admitted To Returning The Puppy She And David Harbour Adopted During COVID-19 After It Ate Her And Her Children’s Passports And 'Ruined' Her Life
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Lily Allen has admitted that she adopted a puppy during lockdown, but returned it after it ate her and her children’s passports.
The star made the revelation on Thursday’s episode of her podcast, Miss Me?, where she was joined by a guest cohost, Welsh TV presenter Steve Jones.
At the very beginning of their chat, Lily excitedly showed Steve a photo of the Chihuahua mix puppy that she is considering getting with her husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour, and her two daughters, 12-year-old Ethel and 11-year-old Marnie.
Steve then jokingly asked if she and David were ready for the “commitment” of a pet dog, which is when Lily casually said that she and David already adopted a puppy together during COVID-19 — but it didn’t exactly go well.
For reference, Lily and David first started dating in 2019, and got married in a Las Vegas ceremony in September 2020.
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“You know what, we actually did adopt a dog together already,” Lily revealed. “But then it ate my passport, and so I took her back to the home.”
As Steve expressed his shock, Lily explained that the dog also ate her daughters' passports.
She said: “She ate all three of our passports, and they had our visas in. I cannot tell you how much money it cost me to get everything replaced, because it was in COVID, and so it was an absolute logistical nightmare.”
In addition to the financial cost, Lily's daughters were also unable to see their dad, Sam Cooper, for months after the incident because he lives in the UK, and they live in New York with Lily.
“Because the father of my children lives in England, I couldn’t get them back to see their dad for, like, four months, five months because this fucking dog had eaten the passports,” she said. “I just couldn’t look at it. I was like: ‘You ruined my life.’”
">Lily then insisted that the passport saga was actually the final straw after a long line of bad behavior from the puppy. She told Steve: “Also, you know, passports weren’t the only things she ate. She was a very badly behaved dog, and I really tried very hard with her, but it didn’t work out. The passports were the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.”
Listeners have since found the Instagram page that was seemingly set up for Lily and David’s puppy, Mary Harbour. While the account has been inactive for years, David still follows it and appears in some of the photos.
">The first picture of Mary was shared on May 1, 2021. In a video shared later that same day, the pup can be seen chewing on a pink hat but excitedly stopping and walking over to greet David while wagging her tail.
">In one photo, David can be seen carrying Mary in a bag on the subway, with the post’s caption reading: “Pupway with Dad. Quickest way to Brooklyn.”
">The final post on the account, which Lily liked, was shared on May 6, 2021, and is a picture of Mary with the caption: “do i look cute ?”
A total of 10 posts were shared to the account over the five-day period.
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Discussing her new passport on the podcast, Lily revealed that she still officially has her ex-husband Sam’s last name — despite now being married to David.
The star admitted that her decision is “quite a bone of contention” before she explained the logistical reason behind it.
“I still have my ex-husband’s name because I’ve got two children with the man and it’s hard to travel with children if you haven’t got the same surname,” Lily said. “He wasn’t that up for letting me change the kid’s names to ‘Harbour,’ so I’ve kept my ex-husband’s name.”
She then admitted: “David and I have joint bank accounts, and so it’s quite annoying for him to have, you know, me with my Amex Card with my ex-husband’s name on it.”