Lily Allen Thought David Harbour Was a “Sexy Policeman”

It’s easy to assume that pop-star-turned-actor Lily Allen and her “Stranger Things” actor husband, David Harbour, knew of each other before they embarked on their first date. But you’d be wrong. During an appearance on “The Jonathan Ross Show,” which will air April 1, Allen said had no idea who Harbour was, had never watched the Netflix show (where had she been?!), and actually thought he was a policeman.

The couple met on celebrity dating app Raya, but Allen wasn’t taking her swiping seriously. “It was the first time I’d been on this dating app. I was scrolling through and landed on David’s profile and pressed accept,” she said. “I didn’t know who he was. I thought he was just like a sexy policeman from a reality TV show. He was wearing a policeman’s uniform. It was a still from ‘Stranger Things.’ I’d never seen ‘Stranger Things.'”

When they did eventually meet in real life — at fancy London restaurant The Wolseley, no less — their attraction was most certainly there and their relationship blossomed. “I’d say it was pretty instant actually. He was sitting underneath a clock. It was a little bit like that moment in ‘Titanic,’ when [Jack] turns around under the clock. It was a little bit like that for me,” she said. The couple went on to get married in September 2020 in Las Vegas, and they now reside with Allen’s two daughters in Brooklyn.

Allen, who is four years sober, is starring in Sky’s “Dreamland,” her debut TV acting role, following her theater stint in “2:22 A Ghost Story” in London’s West End. “I kind of took [the theater] job on because I was full of self-hatred at the time. [I was telling myself,] ‘This will be a disaster, I’ll hate it, the reviews will be horrendous,’ and I’ll be able to be like, ‘Yes, you are a piece of sh*t.’ But actually it was really brilliant and it sold out. I got an Olivier nomination!” she said on “The Jonathan Ross Show.”

As for her music career, she admitted it’s on hold right now, but never say never. Following her return to Glastonbury last year, where she took the stage with Olivia Rodrigo (which she said was “really, really amazing”), she got the bug and booked time in a studio. Don’t get too excited, though, as she’s not putting any of that music out. She did get brownie points from her kids though, who are big Rodrigo fans. As the “Smile” singer has banned her own music in the house, they had no idea of her previous success. She said: “In the car on the way back, Marnie looked at me and went, ‘Are you kind of popular then?’ She was like, ‘What, in the charts?’ And I was like, ‘Yes.'” Just wait until they are old enough to listen to her hits!