Ahead of the release of her new album 30, Adele recently spoke candidly about her divorce and admitted that the whole situation “embarrassed” her.
In a new cover story, penned by Brittany Spanos for Rolling Stone, the British singer opened up about her split from Simon Konecki in 2019. “I didn’t really know myself,” she explained. “I thought I did. I don’t know if it was because of my Saturn return or if it was because I was well and truly sort of heading into my thirties, but I just didn’t like who I was.” The two have a 9-year-old son together, Angelo, who she previously said had "a lot of questions" in the wake of their divorce.
"It made me really sad," she said of the experience. "Then having so many people that I don’t know, know that I didn’t make that work … it fucking devastated me. I was embarrassed. No one made me feel embarrassed, but you feel like you didn’t do a good job."
Following her divorce, she tried dating briefly, but admitted she “lasted five seconds” dating in Los Angeles. Her friends even tried to set her up on blind dates, but she wasn’t a fan. “You can’t set me up on a fucking blind date! I’m like, ‘How’s that going to work?’ There’ll be paparazzi outside and someone will call [gossip site] Deuxmoi, or whatever it’s fucking called! It ain’t happening,” she said.
She’s now dating Rich Paul, a sports agent who has worked with LeBron James and other notable athletes. The two met at a birthday party for a mutual friend. They danced together and while she couldn't remember the song they danced to, she suggested it could have been Drake. "I was like, 'You should play something else. I love Drake. But you should play something else,'" she said, noting the DJ had played "too much Drake that night."
30 is due to arrive on Nov. 19, around six years since her last studio album, and she’s very much aware that fans have been waiting a while. As the profile’s author Brittany Spanos noted, Adele has been eagerly awaiting new music from Kendrick Lamar. “Fucking hell,” said Adele of the wait for new Kung-Fu Kenny. However, she’s been able to hear some of the record already, since she’s lucky enough to be friends with the rapper.
Since she lives in Los Angeles these days, she revealed her neighbors are Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lawrence, whom she said “humanized” her. “I was like, ‘Well, I’m not famous.’ I’m very British like that,” she said. “We never spoke about work, which was amazing, because most of the time when I catch up with someone, they want to know all about my work, and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to talk about that. Can we talk about something else? I’m knackered.’”
Read the full cover story here.
