When Lily Allen walked into Lounge Lover in London's East End and ordered a glass of mineral water, you could have knocked me over with a bottle of Jägermeister. It was, after all, just past 7pm and, if the reports of her partying and on-stage drunkenness are to be believed, she should have been pretty hammered by then.

She smiled at my astonishment. "I'm not drinking. I haven't had a drink in three weeks."

Can this be the same girl who, in January in Australia, was rescued by the boys from Kasabian after drunken rows with other singers; who, at a gig in London in March, bounced on stage and told the audience, "I'm a bit pissed already - oops"; who has made a habit of boasting about her drinking; and who recently wrote on MySpace: "I've been getting really drunk because I've been so nervous about doing bad shows"?