It was already Adele what the clock struck Sunday evening on the American TV channel CBS. Especially Adele one night only was broadcast, in which the viewer got to see Adele in all her facets. The British sang some of her biggest hits in Los Angeles in the company of Lizzo and James Corden, among others, and showed how she still manages to captivate an audience effortlessly.
But there was also attention for the Adele next to the podium. He ventured into an interview, which was conducted by none other than Oprah Winfrey and which was broadcast between the concert fragments. She did not shy away from any subject.
About her divorce
For example, it was about the parting of the 33-year-old singer, barely a year after her marriage to Simon Konecki (47). “All my life I’ve been obsessed with having a normal family because I never had one,” Adele said. She was referring to her childhood, with a father who left her family behind when she was only two years old. “At a very young age, I promised myself that I would stay together if I ever had children. And I tried that for a long time.”
And yet it came to a divorce. She said that her marriage was not working, when she did a personality test in a magazine. “One question was what would be something that no one knew about me. I then told my friends that I was not happy. I wasn’t alive, I just muddled on. They all held their breath then. Then I realized: What am I actually doing?”
With that realization came a pang of guilt. “I take marriage very seriously,” said Adele. “And I felt like I was disrespecting it by getting married and getting divorced so soon. I am ashamed that it was over so quickly.”
About her ex-husband
Adele added that she still loves Konecki, although she is no longer in love with him. They live opposite each other in Los Angeles and raise their son Angelo together. She had nothing but praise for her ex. “He saved my life after I became famous. I was so young and I couldn’t have done it alone. I would have been overwhelmed and driven myself to the abyss. But he was the most stable person I’d had in my life until then. Even now I would trust him with my life.”
About her father
She never bonded with her father, Marc Evans, because he left her family when she was two years old. “That caused the biggest wound I’ve ever had, it took a very long time to heal,” she told Oprah. “I never expected anything from anyone, because my father taught me never to have expectations. He was the reason why I could never have had a good loving relationship with anyone.”
Still, the two made up for it in the past three years after he became seriously ill. They talked a lot, including the fact that he said that Hometown glory — her first single — was the only song of hers he’d heard. “It hurt him too much to listen to other songs,” he said. And yet she played one of her new songs, To be loved, for him. “That was fantastic for both of us.” She also let him hear the rest of the record via Zoom just before his death in April. “His favorites were mine too, which was great. He was so proud of me. When he died after that healing process, it was like the wound closed completely.”
About her weight loss
Another sensitive topic Oprah touched upon: Adele’s weight loss. She weighs 45 kilograms less today than two years ago, an impressive metamorphosis. “I had the worst possible anxiety attacks after the divorce,” Adele said. “They completely paralyzed me and made me so confused. I no longer had any control over my body.”
But she was less bothered by it in the gym in her house. So she started training every day, several times in fact. “That really helped to get mentally strong again.” She says she does not mind that she is now being criticized for her appearance. “There have always been comments about how I look. I was too fat, now I’m too thin. Sometimes I’m pretty, sometimes I’m not. I do feel bad about making people feel bad about themselves, but I don’t mean to. I just need to get my own life back on track. I can take no other worries there.”
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