SITTING on the sofa in her council-owned home, Lily Dee could hardly believe the song playing on the radio was in fact one of her own.
It was a huge ‘pinch me’ moment for Lily because she had never trained as a fully-fledged singer but against all odds, but her new found fame was a world away from her tough childhood.
But now she has over one million followers on social media and has hit the UK music charts[/caption]
She’s proved time and time again that you can break the cycle[/caption]
But the 36-year-old singer, who is currently single, is proof that dreams can become reality regardless of background after becoming a chart-topper and social media star.
Within just 24 hours of her song ‘Playing for Time’ being released on August 16, it went to number six on the iTunes UK chart and number three on the dance chart as well as number 17 on the Singles Chart.
But her rise to fame has been far from easy and in an exclusive interview, she tells Fabulous: “I didn’t have the best start to life and didn’t have the best opportunities growing up on a council estate in an underprivileged area.
“I was in my house with no food, no warm clothing sometimes, and just trying to get by, just trying to survive and get food for that day for me and my siblings.
“So to have all these opportunities later on in life…I’m just trying to milk them and get the most out of them.”
The success has been bittersweet for Lily who grew up in poverty with drug addict parents and didn’t have the opportunity to find out where her passions in life lay.
She explains: “When I was young I wasn’t exposed to music, dancing, singing, you know, people were going to cheerleading club, people were going to football, people were going to drama school.
“I was never given the opportunity to express myself or to find out what I’m good at and to see if I can create change in my life.”
Poverty wasn’t Lily’s only hurdle – her life at home was also dangerous due to her parents’ lifestyles.
“Both of my parents were on drugs, it was very apparent, they did try and go to parents’ evening and stuff, but there was a lot of drama and a lot of trauma,” she adds.
“We sometimes had drug dealers putting petrol bombs through the windows.
“My parents weren’t bad people, they didn’t make the choice to have children and get addicted to drugs.”
I was beat down as a child, you know, ‘You’ll never amount to anything…As soon as I was old enough I jumped straight into the rat race and had to work three jobs to pay bills and vowed to never go hungry again.”
Lily Dee
Now, Lily helps care for her dad after he was attacked at random in a park last year.
But from a young age Lily, who is from Manchester and still lives there, knew she didn’t want to follow in her parents’ footsteps, and she refused to be lured into selling drugs which was the norm in her area.
The reality of living in a council house
LEANNE Hall, Digital Writer at Fabulous, has discussed what it was like growing up in a council house, and why those living in such properties are often judged…
When I was a child I grew up in a council house, and was blissfully unaware of the discrimination that came with that, until I became an adult.
My younger years were spent running up and down the stairs of my flat, meeting with other friends who lived there and making the most of the communal garden.
But now, it seems no matter your circumstance, everyone has something to say about why you shouldn’t be there.
Living just outside of London like I did, rent prices are still high, and as my mum was at home raising three kids at the time, it wasn’t easy to find a job that fit around that.
People in council houses are often labelled as ‘scroungers’ or ‘lazy’ but it’s nothing of the sort.
Most families in council homes experience overcrowding, and let’s not even mention the horrendous amount of damp and mould that comes from living in old social housing that hasn’t had work done to them in 50 or so years.
It’s not ideal for many, but it does provide a secure home without the fear your rent will shoot up every single year, which I would argue is vital to children growing up on the poverty line.
Instead, she had her sights set firmly on success and reveals: “As soon as I was old enough I jumped straight into the rat race and had to work three jobs, working as a mechanic before heading to work in TKMaxx and a pub to pay bills and vowed to never go hungry again.
“I was beat down as a child and told I would never amount to anything.”
But at the age of 25, Lily left England to work as a fire dancing entertainer across the world including Egypt and Spain, an opportunity which came to her via a friend.
Four days later she was on the plane.
However, when she returned to the UK when the holiday season ended, Lily found herself in a violent relationship and was re-housed to a different area by the local council.
Four years ago, she found her niche, making online comedy sketches about what it was like growing up on a council estate.
She came up with the moniker, the Council Estate Queen, and began creating music too.
When Covid struck Lily focused on producing content for TikTok – recreating dance videos she had seen on the app.
But a couple of months in Lily turned to comedy videos, shedding light on what life is really like growing up on a council estate.
Just three videos later, Lily had gone from a couple of hundred followers to over 100,000 – and now she has over one million across social media.
“I’m still in my council house, I’m still humble,” smiles Lily, who has no plans to move.
Meanwhile, six million of the poorest people in the UK would need more than double their income to move out of poverty, reports the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
And Lily isn’t the only one to break the cycle, many of our favourite celebrities have come from council estates including singer Adele, Love Island royalty Maya Jama and TV favourite Alison Hammond.
Today, 17% of UK households live in social housing – the modern term for a council-owned property – according to Government data.
Whilst living in this sort of property might have once had a negative connotation attached to it, many residents have gone onto purchase their home through Right To Buy schemes, and at a very reasonable price.
Each local authority across the country runs a ‘waiting list’ for social housing and currently there are more people applying for homes than what’s available.
But as Lily knows all too well, it isn’t just money that makes it hard to leave an underprivileged life behind.
Poverty can cause problems with self confidence and stress, which means many feel unable to break the cycle.
Lily knows the feeling well: “It’s easier to go your whole life on a council estate not putting yourself out there, not taking opportunities. You don’t think you’re good enough because your surroundings have told you you’re not,” she reveals.
“When you grow up with drug users or gamblers you’re kind of encouraged to become a product to your environment and you don’t see those opportunities.
“When I grew up, I didn’t know that you had to go to school and work hard and fix your future, or even just go into dance classes and brownies and Scouts.
“It’s stuff like that which gives you the opportunities.”
Now Lily, also an aspiring actress, hopes that her fame continues to grow and hopes to secure a role on her favourite TV show Coronation Street, vowing to take any opportunity that comes her way.
She is true to her roots and hopes to one day set up a foundation for children who live on council estates to provide them with the opportunity to gain life skills, hobbies and confidence.
“My long-term goal is to help people on the council estate and underprivileged areas,” she adds.
“I want to create my own foundation, like the Prince‘s Trust, but a bit more entertainment based and create more opportunities for their future.”
