Not so literary Lily: Singer blames ill health for stepping down from judge's role

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Her manager cited ill-health as the reason she would not continue judging the women's literary award.

The 22-year-old did not attend an initial "long-list" meeting with the other judges last month, participating by phone instead.

And she failed to take part in a debate last week which decided the shortlist.

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Lily Allen was the youngest judge to feature on the panel since the £30,000 Orange Prize was set up in 1996

It follows a traumatic few months for Miss Allen, who suffered a miscarriage, then split from boyfriend, musician Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers.

In addition, her new TV chat show has been panned by critics.

A spokesman for the singer said yesterday: "It is with deep regret that Lily Allen has withdrawn from the judging panel.

"Lily had read extensively for the first stage of the judging process and was looking forward to the shortlist meeting but recently found that she was unable to commit 100 per cent to the role due to ill-health.

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The Smile star appeared high-spirited as she stepped out with new boyfriend Robertson Furze last month

He added: "Rather than do a disservice to what she sees as an incredible array of female literary talent, it has been agreed that she will withdraw before the final judging takes place.

"Lily hopes that her withdrawal will not detract from the huge importance of the Orange Prize and sends her sincere apologies to her fellow judges and to the individual authors."

She was the youngest judge to feature on the panel since the £30,000 prize was set up in 1996.

Organisers were accused of being too celebrity-minded and stretching the credibility of the prize when the young singer was named as a judge alongside broadcaster Kirsty Lang, Guardian Review editor Lisa Allardice, journalist Bel Mooney and novelist Philippa Gregory.

The prize's co-founder Kate Mosse said: "We were delighted when Lily agreed to judge the prize this year as we felt she offered an exciting connection to younger audiences, which is one of the important objectives of the Orange Prize. "We are very sad that she is not able to continue."

Kirsty Lang, chairman of the judging panel, said: "Lily has put in a lot of work on the reading and brought a unique perspective to the judging process and we're really sorry to be losing her at this stage."

The shortlist for this year's prize will be announced a week on Tuesday.