Lily Collins ‘forgives’ dad Phil for not being there for her and her battle with anorexia in moving open letter
Actress has posted emotional open letter to her drummer dad
LILY Collins has penned an emotional letter to her rocker father Phil, forgiving him for not "not being the dad I expected".
The 27-year-old, now a successful actress in her own right, is one of the ex-Genesis star's five children, but it seems he's not managed to successfully navigate being a present and supportive father - especially as he lived on a different continent to her.
Lily, Phil's middle child, claims that "many of my deepest insecurities stem from these issues with my dad", including her teenage anorexia.
Her open letter to the Another Day In Paradise singer is taken from her debut book, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me, which is aimed at teenage girls and aims to help them express themselves and deal with their own personal problems.
The brutally honest prose - published by the - hints that she hasn't always had the best relationship with the 66-year-old, who was married to her American mum Jill Tavelman from 1984 until 1996.
She writes: "I forgive you for not always being there when I needed and for not being the dad I expected.
"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.
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"We all make choices and, although I don’t excuse some of yours, at the end of the day we can’t rewrite the past.
"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."
But it seems that Phil didn't even have to be directly involved in her or her mum's life to have a negative effect on her, and she links a previous battle with bulimia to the fallout when her dad divorced his third wife, Orianne Cevey, in 2008.
She admits: "Not only did I start viewing myself differently physically, but I began limiting my happiness by controlling my eating habits.
"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."
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