Allen: 'My chatshow was half-baked'

Lily Allen has rated her BBC Three chatshow "five out of ten" and suggested that it was a waste of licence fee payers' money.

Lily Allen And Friends was dismissed by critics and suffered mediocre ratings when it debuted earlier in the year.

The Sun quotes Allen as saying: "It was a period when I decided not to be a singer or go on tour. I made a lot of money out of it. Thank you, licence payers - that was very nice of you. You think Russell Brand is your problem. Actually, it's me."

Despite the show's failure to take off, the BBC has commissioned a second series of the show, which is based around Allen's MySpace site and online friends.

"Not everything has to be a massive ratings success on the BBC," an insider said. "Lily's show was aimed at younger viewers who don't read newspaper reviews - or care about them.

"We were happy with how the programme performed and it was a good effort for someone who has never fronted a television show before."