Lily Allen's chat show signed on for a second series

Lily Allen's BBC chat show has been signed on for a second series, despite disappointing ratings figures.

The BBC have commissioned eight more episodes of the singer's 45-minute program.

Lily Allen and Friends drew just 255,000 viewers for the first episode in mid-February, which dropped to just 173,000 at the beginning of last month.

But the figure has since crept up to 300,000 viewers for more recent episodes.

The 'Smile' singer, 22, said: "I'm thrilled that we're going to make a second series of the show, it's been such a laugh.

"I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who tuned in and I can't wait to film series two."

The channel's boss praised the pint-sized singer, saying she had "developed astoundingly well as a TV host in just a few weeks".

Lily was forced to defend the show after some members of the audience walked out during a taping of the first episode.

She wrote on her MySpace blog: "Due to it being the first show we've done we ran over a little."

"Naturally a small number of the audience had to catch the last trains back to wherever they came from. "

She added: "Standing in a hot studio for two hours watching me fluff my lines is not my idea of fun but they seemed to enjoy it."