Lily Allen's New Reason to Smile: Pregnancy

by Gina Serpe

So much for that sudden weight loss.

While Stateside gossipmongers may still be abuzz with news of Jamie Lynn Spears' expectancy, entertainment watchers across the pond have a surprise starlet pregnancy of their own to talk about: Lily Allen's.

A rep for the 22-year-old "Smile" singer has confirmed she is expecting her first child with 37-year-old musician Ed Simons, one half of electronic dance duo the Chemical Brothers. As it is, the stork wasted no time in RSVPing the happy couple—the duo has only been dating since September.

"I am pleased to confirm that Lily Allen and her boyfriend, Ed Simons, are expecting their first child," the songbird's rep said in a statement Wednesday. "However, as the pregnancy is at a very, very early stage, the couple ask that you respect their privacy, as the health of Lily and their child is their paramount concern." ....

Just last month, the Alright, Still popster, who recently earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album, announced she had been diagnosed with a heart murmur over the summer, a condition that, apart from the shock of the diagnosis, appears relatively harmless.

Allen issued the medical memo after U.S. and U.K. publications began noticing the singer's vastly slimmed down physique and picked up on her seeming sudden adherence to the cookie-cutter starlet mold.

The singer, however, took care to stress that her new designer-friendly figure was the result of a better overall health regime and not born from a desire to "become some skinny minnie—I will never be like that."

Particularly not for the next nine months.

Despite the burgeoning bun in the oven, Allen's rep said the singer has no plans to pull out of any upcoming professional commitments, chief among them finishing up her highly anticipated sophomore album.

The as-yet untitled record release will go ahead as planned in spring 2008, with Allen due back in the studio in the new year to put the finishing touches on the album. Allen will also forge ahead on a chat show she's set to host for BBC Three, Lily Allen and Friends, which will revolve around topics of the day as spun by the singer and a bevy of her MySpace pals, of which there are, famously, no shortage.

A spokesperson for the BBC said they "have heard the news and we are thrilled for her."

While Allen has long said she only wants to make one more album before retiring from the music biz altogether—time and contracts will tell if that remains the case—she has only recently started talking about starting a family of her own.

"It's a great job, but it doesn't leave time for what's important," she told Britain's Sunday Times last month. "Like having a family."

"I'd like to live in the country and have a walled garden, and chickens and pigs."

While the pregnancy may allow her to step out of the limelight and pursue the lifestyle she wants, it might also give her the final push to exorcise one of her remaining demons.

"I should also give up smoking," she said last month, "but haven't quite managed that yet."



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