She's a hugely successful singer, songwriter and author – but now Lily Allen can add a new job title to her resume – sex toy creator.
The 35-year-old has just been unveiled as an ambassador for Womanizer, one of the largest sex toy manufacturers in theworld.
While you might think the collaboration is unexpected, Lily says you'd be mistaken.
The Smile singer has opened up about the taboo topic in the past, writing in her 2018 autobiography My Thoughts Exactly about how self-pleasure helped her during particularly dark period in her life.
As part of the partnership, Lily is releasing "The Liberty", an orange and pink limited edition version of the brand's best-selling sex toy.
Lily Allen has been announced as a new ambassador of Womanizer and is releasing her own sex toy. Photo / Supplied
"Sex toys are still seen as a taboo subject because they are related to female pleasure," Lily told news.com.au
"Female pleasure in itself is a taboo subject. The only way to make taboo subjects no longer taboo is to speak about them openly, frequently and without shame or guilt."
Studies show orgasms have a number of health benefits, such as inducing better quality sleep and managing stress – but there's a worrying gender gap in the experience, with 90 per cent of men climaxing during intercourse while in comparison, around 75 per cent of women will never orgasm from sex alone.
It's not just during partner activities that women are missing out, with new research from Womanizer showing there's a huge gap with self-pleasure too. On average men engage in the act about 156 times per year, while women will indulge around 50 times a year.
It's these stats that have inspired Lily to raise awareness for sex equality and female self-pleasure as she says it's not just men who should get their kicks in the bedroom.
"The issue of sex and satisfaction isn't solved yet, it's just important to keep up the conversation as much as we possibly can, because the more we talk about something, the more it becomes normalised – and there is no down side to women feeling empowered and owning their sexual independence," Lily said.
The Liberty by Lily Allen is a limited edition toy as part of the popular Womanizer range. Photo / Supplied
During lockdown periods across the globe sales of toys for the bedroom soared, with Australia seeing a 42 per cent increase in March according to online adult store The Hot Spot.
"I think that lockdown has been good for this particular area," Lily said.
In her book, Lily listed the "Womanizer" toy as the one she "would pick above all the others" and has raved about the intimate item on her Instagram Stories in the past, telling her 1.4 million followers the product "changed my life".
At the time, she stressed she wasn't being paid to promote the product, using the #notanad hashtag on her video.
"I think we should share our good discoveries with each other and (these things) are important," she said, according to reports.
She has raved about the toy in the past, previously saying it 'changed my life'. Photo / Supplied
The mum of two – who recently married Stranger Things star David Harbour in Las Vegas – also tackled the common misconception that intimate toys are only for single people.
"Me and my husband got married five weeks ago and I haven't seen him since. He has been in America filming and I have been here so, yeah … (Laughs) definitely not just for single people," she said.
"Things might not be perfect in the bedroom in terms of people's relationships so why wouldn't you give that gift to yourself and be able to tick that off your list on your own.
"We all need to eat, right? We need food in order to sustain ourselves and you don't think like f**k I have got to wait for my boyfriend to come home so I can eat this salad. You eat the salad. It's the same with masturbation."
Lily – who has two daughters, Marnie, 7, and Ethel, 8, with ex-husband Sam Cooper – has used her music to share her views on the topic in the past.
Lyrics in her hugely popular song It's Not Fair depict sexual frustration, something she said "resonated" with lots of people.
Lily's sex toy hits virtual shelves today and is an item she hopes helps other women who have struggled to climax in the past.
"I was that woman in my mid-twenties and I just had surrendered to the idea that I wasn't going to be able to have regular orgasms and there was something wrong with me," she told news.com.au.
