By Kitty Chrisp

Copyright metro

Miquita Oliver and Lily Allen’s friendship has endured for their whole 40 years (Picture: BBC)

Lily Allen has stepped back from her hit BBC podcast Miss Me? which she’s hosted for over a year with best pal Miquita Oliver.

The Smile hitmaker, 40, announced her departure from the show this week after the besties launched it in March 2024, explaining how she needed to focus on other commitments, leading fans to suspect she might be working on new music.

Lily and Miquita, 41, are far more than work friends – though they have found success in their professional collaboration, having broken through a noisy podcast space with their honest chats and candid confessions, even winning a British Podcast Award.

Their relationship is far deeper than that: the pair spent their childhoods together mucking around in Ladbroke Grove and have been by each other’s side through all their highs and lows.

The pair’s mothers – film producer Alison Owen and TV chef Andi Oliver – are friends, so the two 00s icons spent much time with each other as youngsters, also attending the same school, before either of them found fame in the noughties.

TV face Miquita was the first of the two to fully step out into the spotlight, as she bagged a gig presenting Pop World in 2001 when she was 16 for five years alongside comedian Simon Amstell.

Lily has just stepped down from their podcast for the foreseeable future (Picture: Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer/GC Images)

The pair grew up together in London, as their mums were friends (Picture: Jon Furniss/WireImage)

Lily – who previously admitted it was Miquita’s venture into the music world that made her want to become a popstar – released her debut album Alright, Still in 2006 when she turned 21.

In the 00s the pair spent heady young years partying together in London, and while Lily is now sober and Miquita still enjoys a drink, their friendship has evolved with age.

‘We had a great time. I loved partying and I love going out and I still drink, I still go out, but it’s not part of our friendship any more and it doesn’t feel like a loss. It hasn’t been for so long. I don’t really want to do that right now,’ Miquita said in an interview with Grazia.

‘I think it reminds people of their own relationships with their best friends,’ Lily added of their podcast’s popularity. ‘It’s like a form of nostalgia, not necessarily for a period of time, but for long-term, platonic relationships.’

‘We’re family,’ Miquita added.

In a video interview with The Times, Lily said of their close childhoods: ‘When my mum was not in a good patch I’d come to yours to get fed, and when your mum was not in a good patch you’d come to mind to get fed.’

Lily also reflected that through the show their relationship is the ‘healthiest it’s ever been’.

Just like any family, the pair’s relationship has endured its tensions over the years.

In June last year on Miss Me? Miquita called out her pal over a historic feud between the two which resulted in her not speaking to Lily for six months, according to Daily Mail.

The presenter had once confided in Lily about an unnamed pop star she was besotted with, only for her best mate to fly to Japan to have sex with him.

‘I’d like to tell a story about when Lily Allen sabotaged me,’ the radio presenter announced to which her co-presenter asked: ‘What?!’

Miquita and Lily used to party hard together (Picture: Shutterstock)

The friends’ podcast has shown the messy and honest sides of their relationship, as well as the good stuff (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Burberry)

Miquita ploughed on, stating: ‘There was a pop star in the early noughties, I found out that he fancied me. I told Lily that I liked him.’

However, she soon discovered her friend was not supportive of this crush as Lily replied: ‘Well actually, I like him.’

‘Well, that doesn’t actually matter because he likes me,’ came Miquita’s retort but the Not Fair singer wasn’t deterred so easily.

She continued: ‘Cue Lily, gets herself to a festival in Japan and seduces him. Seduced him with her wily ways.’

Lily then called Miquita the next day to confess the whole thing.

‘I have never been that angry with you in my entire life,’ vented the former Popworld host. ‘Did you think that you were sabotaging me in that act?

‘Or were you just getting yours?’

Defending herself, Lily responded: ‘I fancied him, so I was getting mine. By the way, I think pop stars are fair game, like, I don’t care.’

Laughing, Miquita replied: ‘That’s the real answer. That’s the f***ing real answer. If I didn’t hate you so much for it, I would have applauded you. It was admirable.’

‘I flew to Japan to lock that one in,’ the LDN singer grinned back as her friend dubbed it ‘ruthless’.

Early on in the podcast recording, Miquita dropped her own truth bomb on Lily when asked by a listener whether there’s a lie between them that either party has still not admitted.

They are more like family than friends (Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)

‘You know that I kissed Toby right?’ said Miquita of Lily’s ex, to which the popstar replied: ‘When I was with him?’

On confirmation of this, through a smile Lily said: ‘Oh my god. No I did not.’

In a light-hearted but somewhat tense segment, Miquita said it was in someone’s living room and Lily was upstairs.

‘I would be really angry with you…’ began Lily, before Miquita interjected: ‘You can’t possibly be!’

Lily then clapped back: ‘I’ve f***ed loads of your boyfriends, so…’

The pair laughed, as Miquita asked for confirmation on whether Lily slept with a man called Jasper.

‘I did,’ confessed Lily, adding: ‘But it was 10 years after you split up.’

The pair went on to bicker about it, as Miquita said Toby was a fling – but Lily said she was with him for a year – before the singer leant back in her seat with a resolute: ‘F**k you.’

The Independent reported that in an episode of Miss Me? in October the pair openly discussed how they’ve had to overcome jealousy in their friendship.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHs51UjIv4K/?hl=en

‘I will just start with, I will always be jealous of Miquita’s legs, that’s not going anywhere,’ joked Lily, before continuing: ‘To be quite frank, I’ve always been jealous of Miquita. You always had this sort of energy around you and your family that I was very jealous of…

‘It all seemed very vibrant and full, and it was something that I didn’t have in my home when I was a kid, and so I always felt left out and a little bit [jealous].’

Meanwhile, Miquita hinted this was ironic, as the feeling was shared: ‘All I wanted was your house and your mum and to have siblings and to live in Islington.

‘I think it gave us this slightly competitive edge in our friendship,’ she offered.

Lily also said that Miquita was a year older so a ‘step ahead’ of her, adding: ‘You were my introduction to a lot of things… there was definitely some envy there.’

In the end, the pair overcame their jealousy by watching each other go through ‘pain and hardship’, which only strengthened their love for one another.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.