Inside Lily Allen's troubled childhood and fractious relationship with her father Keith - as she reveals she had children to feel 'unconditional love'

Lily Allen may be known for a tough exterior and a take-no-nonsense mantra, but the singer and actress has also revealed moments of raw vulnerability since first stepping into the spotlight more than 15 years ago. Pictured with her father Keith Allen in 2007 Soon after Lily's birth, Keith began an affair with a brigadier's wife who lived near the set of a film he was working on in Dorset. The singer, 39, shares daughters Ethel, 13, and Marnie, 11, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper and candidly revealed how she hoped pregnancy would help her pause her career and fix a love which she 'hadn't felt since being a child' 'I just lived within my own brain. The singer, who is now married to Stranger Things actor David Harbour, has two children with her ex, Sam Cooper The singer has recalled how Keith walked out on her and her brother Alfie when she was just four years old The singer has also revealed the better times she has shared with her father, including trips to football matches in her teenage years. Her father is actor Keith Allen, 70, who walked out on her mother Alison Owen, 63, when Lily was four years old, she has been open about their fractious relationship Lily Allen has admitted she 'had kids for all the wrong reasons' in a heartbreaking attempt to find 'unconditional love' 'And I said, 'Sorry that's what I thought… I'm really sorry if I got that wrong but that's how I remembered it and you never explained it to me in any other way so that's what I wrote' and he said, 'Well that's not true.'