Lily Allen’s fans walk out during TV show recording

Lilly Allen's career in television isn't getting off to the best of starts - after more than a third of the studio audience walked out during the first recording of her show 'Lily Allen and Friends', saying they were bored and complaining it was "horrible" and "limp".

The show airs on British cable channel BBC3 - and bosses had hoped Lily, 22, would attract a new audience to the network - thanks to her unique appeal to the internet generation.

But the 'Smile' singer shrugged off criticisms of her debut when she was photographed last night arriving at a pre-Baftas bash with a mystery man.

Friday's recording at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, does not augur well for the series – especially as the 150 audience members had been specially invited from among Lily's Myspace pals.

One of the fans who walked out said: "Everyone really, really wanted it to work for Lily. She is such a lovely person but all the jokes fell flat and she seemed very nervous. It just did not work.

"I do think she's got a nice voice but she didn't sing at all. I think everyone was expecting she would."

Off-camera, Lily - the daughter of actor Keith Allen - who was wearing a slinky red off-the-shoulder dress, admitted she was nervous of her first test as an interviewer, quizzing guests Cuba Gooding Jnr, comedian David Mitchell and the band Reverend and the Makers.

As well as her lack of experience, the singer had to fight technical glitches including a jammed Autocue, which left her reliant on handwritten cue cards.

One guest said: "We were all standing about, getting quite tired.

"She was halfway through her interview with David Mitchell when she seemed to forget the questions and launched into an attack on all the horrible things people had written about her on online chat forums.

"It was terrible. Even David Mitchell had to remind her not to criticise the very people who would be watching the show."

Miss Allen then showed a series of internet videos showing animals having sex. Cuba Gooding Jnr summed up the mood when he told the audience: "I don't know what's sicker, animals having sex or you clapping."

Another guest said: "We were all told when to clap and laugh but a lot of people, including me, were very uncomfortable. Much of the humour was very limp."

A pilot episode was made last month to allow producers to fix problems before broadcast – but it appears this was not enough.

The show aims to tap into Miss Allen's popularity on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace, which helped launch her music career.

As well as recruiting the audience online, fans were invited to submit questions for Miss Allen to ask, and add their own profiles to the show's website.

However, an hour into filming about 50 members of the audience had left and by the end, the studio was a little over half-full.

One BBC source said: "You have to have a brilliant wit and be a real quick thinker to handle a show like this. It's a huge responsibility for someone so lacking in TV experience.

"It's cruel to heap so much responsibility on one girl, especially at a time when she has had such unhappiness in her private life."

Lily recently suffered a miscarriage, and has split from her 'Chemical Brothers' boyfriend Ed Simons.

By Owen Williams, Feb 10 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy