Lily Allen reveals comment that was ‘edited out’ of BBC podcast with Miquita Oliver
Lily Allen has revealed a comment that had to be edited out of her hit podcast with close friend Miquita Oliver.
Allen, 39, and Oliver, 40, recently launched their twice-weekly BBC sounds podcast Miss Me?. Released twice a week, the show features the lifelong friends catching up over FaceTime and discussing a wide range of subjects.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Allen and Oliver shared some insight into the creation of their show, with the “Smile” singer recalling a remark that had to be cut out of an early episode, due to the BBC’s political impartiality rules.
“I was talking about reproductive rights, and Roe v Wade,” she explained, “and I said that, at the Met Gala, there were enough people in that room to have really moved the needle about that, and the legal department was like, ‘That sounds like a call to action’, and it had to be edited out.”
Allen added: “I still don’t understand the guidelines.”
Oliver chimed in by saying that while investigating the production rules is not their job, it would be “ridiculous for us not to talk about important s*** that’s going on that we care about”.
As well as current affairs, Allen and Oliver discuss some of their shared experiences, many of which are new anecdotes for the listeners.
One story that led to several national headlines was based on Allen admitting that she had deliberately slept with a celebrity that Oliver was interested in, claiming that pop stars are “fair game”.
On their candid nature in the programme, former T4 presenter Oliver said that being honest is essential to the podcast’s success.
“Miss Me? has got to be the truth,” she said. “Otherwise, what’s the f***ing point? That’s why people like it, because it’s just the truth. And the truth is messy.”
Though the podcast usually only features the two co-hosts, Miss Me? welcomed Billie Eilish for a special episode earlier this month. In the Guardian interview, published on Sunday (16 June), Allen admitted she’d felt “really protective” of the “Birds of a Feather” singer.
“I felt really protective about her, it was so weird,” Allen said of the 22-year-old.
“Because Miquita’s background is probing pop stars. And my job is being the pop star, and I’m also a mother. Billie is closer to my kids’ age than she is to mine. So Miquita would say, ‘What do you mean by that?’ to Billie, and I was like, ‘She doesn’t mean anything. She does not want to answer that question.’”
Miss Me? is released on Mondays and Thursdays on BBC Sounds.
