Exclusive: Phil Collins Says Daughter Lily and Nick Jonas Are ‘Just Friends’
Deciphering the love life of Nick Jonas takes some work these days. The “Jealous” singer had been flirty with Kate Hudson at the end of 2015 and has now reportedly moved on to another pretty actress, Lily Collins.
Luckily, Lily’s famous dad Phil helped clear things up while speaking to The Insider With Yahoo’s special correspondent TJ Jackson. The singer known for his ‘80s ballads such as “One More Night” addressed reports that his daughter and Nick were at California ski resort Mammoth Mountain for a romantic weekend in late January.
Phil and Lily Collins attend a movie premiere. (Photo: Todd Williamson/Getty Images For Relativity Media)
“[I’m] not sure what Nick looks like,” Phil said with a laugh. “But Lily called me the other day and she was in Mammoth where all this was happening. I’m here with a friend she told me and said it’s not serious. It’s just friends.” Nick and Lily have been pals for years, but their relationship only recently turned romantic, according to Us Weekly. Besides skiing, the magazine reported that the two spent a night “laughing together” on a bowling date in L.A.
Nick Jonas (for Phil’s reference). (Photo: Colin Young-Wolff/Invision for Staples/AP Images)
“Nick really likes Lily,” a source told the mag. Still, things aren’t serious. “Nick’s single and having fun,” he said. “Right now it’s not exclusive.”
The proud dad also lamented that his little girl — who’s now 26 — has to deal with more scrutiny than he did while beginning his career.
“Yeah, I mean, this is what I mean she is now in the public eye and has to put up with all that kind of stuff and she can’t keep that stuff private anymore. When I started in this industry there was no Internet. Now things rattle all over the world. She is getting used to it.”
Still, he admires the way Lily is handling it all.
“She just is remarkable,” Phil praised. “I really believe she can do anything she wants to. Anything she sets her mind to. She’s very grounded, knows what she wants to do. She’s done it without me. All I said to her was be careful what you say.”
As a child, Lily saw the celebrity drama surrounding her mom and dad’s divorce, which was infamously hashed out over fax, play out in public. She’s explained that this early experience made her want to keep her own romances quiet. “I don’t feel the need to profess anything publicly or confirm something that in a normal situation you wouldn’t have to speak about,” she told Glamour in 2013. “If I’m out and I’m photographed with someone, then it is what it is… That’s always been my natural feeling. My family went through a lot of public situations and I saw that side of it from a very young age.”
Phil acknowledged this was true. “I think she was at the receiving end of tabloid interest with her and her mom,” he told The Insider. “Now she sees that wasn’t my fault. People talk to you and come after you. She is getting used to the paparazzi following her around. I warned her about that, but she doesn’t need much advice.”
Well, we have some advice for Nick: If you hear the first chords of “In the Air Tonight” playing, you might want to run.
