Lily Collins pens open letter to her music legend father, Phil Collins, in which she forgives him for not always being there

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Hollywood actress, Lily Collins, 27, has written a letter to her father, Phil Collins, to let him know that he is forgiven for not being the father she expected. Lily published the letter in her debut book which was released today; Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.

"I forgive you for not always being there when I needed you and for not being the dad I expected," she wrote. "I forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it’s too late, it’s not. There’s still so much time to move forward."

Lily is the only child Phil had with his second wife Jill Tavelman. In all, Phil had five children from three wives. When Lily was five, Phil ended his marriage to her mother via fax and left town. Lily rarely ever saw her father, except during holidays, thereby leading to a disconnection between them and anger on her part.

"I’m learning how to accept your actions and vocalise how they made me feel. I accept and honour the sadness and anger I felt toward the things you did or didn’t do, did or didn’t give me," Lily wrote.

She also opened up about battling anorexia and bulimia and links it to the stress caused by her father’s divorce from his third wife in 2008. She also revealed that her deepest insecurities stemmed from the issues she had with her dad.

"Not only did I start viewing myself differently physically, but I began limiting my happiness by controlling my eating habits." she wrote in her book. "I couldn’t handle the pain and confusion surrounding my dad’s divorce, and I was having a hard time balancing being a teenager with pursuing two different grown-up careers."