NOT EASY ON ME
I was a shell of a person after brutal backlash from cancelling Las Vegas shows, says Adele
ADELE has revealed for the first time how she was savaged by a “brutal” backlash after postponing her Las Vegas shows.
The Hello superstar, 34, admitted she was frightened to call them off this year and said she was “a shell of a person” for months afterwards.
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But she stands by the last-minute decision in January, saying: “You can’t buy me . . . you can’t buy me for nothing. I’m not going to do a show because I have to.”
Adele, speaking on Desert Island Discs this morning, also confessed to feeling “terrible” after her dramatic seven-stone weight loss left young fans with confidence issues.
But she defended herself against claims she had betrayed them, hitting back: “They ain’t there at 4am when I’m crying my heart out with anxiety and needing a distraction.”
And the pop icon, who has son Angelo, nine, with ex-husband Simon Konecki, told host Lauren Laverne she would love to have more children in the future.
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Asked about the bombshell postponements, Adele — who played two sold-out gigs at British Summer Time in Hyde Park this week — said: “Did I make the right decision? I don’t know. I definitely felt everyone’s disappointment, and I was devastated. I was frightened about letting them down.
‘I don’t think any other artist would’ve done it’
“I thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn’t, and I stand by that decision.
“I don’t think any other artist would have done what I did. I think that’s why it was such a massive, story, it was like (saying) I don’t care, and stuff like that.
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“But you can’t buy me, you can’t buy me for nothing. I’m not going to do a show because I have to, or people will be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money.”
In a tearful video on social media at the time, Adele blamed the late postponement on “half her crew” being off work with Covid.
But sources claimed the production had long been in jeopardy amid behind-the-scenes clashes.
Adele was said to have been upset that a swimming pool at the Caesars Palace venue looked like “a baggy old pond”.
She told Desert Island Discs: “The show’s not good enough. Of course I could be someone on TikTok or Instagram Live every day being like, ‘I’m working on it’. Of course I’m working on it!
“I’m not gonna update you if I ain’t got nothing to update you with, because that just leads to more disappointment. Maybe that wasn’t well-balanced either, maybe my silence has been deadly.
“But it was horrible and the reaction was brutal, brutal, and I was a shell of a person for a couple of months.
“I just had to wait it out and grieve it, grieve the shows, and get over the guilt. But it was brutal.”
Some felt betrayed.. she gave in to pressure. Didn’t really bother me
Adele on her weight loss
Her Hyde Park shows marked the first time Adele had stepped on stage in five years, following her last UK arena tour in 2017.
Since then she has split from charity exec Simon and thrown herself into exercise, unveiling a radical weight transformation.
And she told Radio 4 host Lauren: “I understand why the Press were fascinated by it . . . I didn’t share my journey in the way that everyone else does.
“Most other people would have a DVD out by now.
“I did it on the quiet, for myself. But I did feel terrible for some people who felt like other people’s comments (about my weight loss) meant that they didn’t look good and they weren’t beautiful.
“For some people it was (interpreted negatively) and I felt terrible — some of the ones I saw were young. Like 15.
“There were some other people who felt very betrayed, being like, ‘Oh, she’s given in to the pressure of it,’ which didn’t really bother me because, like, you ain’t holding my hand at night, at 4am, when I’m crying my heart out with anxiety and needing a distraction.
“100 per cent (exercise) gave me focus, it gave me somewhere to get rid of my energy — good or bad — and it made me feel like I was getting stronger mentally by getting stronger physically.”
Adele went on to pay tribute to her ex Simon as she told how their friendship has survived their separation and divorce.
The pair now live close to each other in LA and co-parent Angelo.
And she said: “It was (tough), but it was never really tricky because we were such good friends, and over my dead body is my kid having a messy divorce in his life.
“There are no issues, there were no issues, so it was easier to make sure that didn’t happen. I was blessed with them and him (Simon). He’s just the best, and I definitely approached it all with grace, and I think that really paid off.”
Asked if becoming a mum had changed her in unexpected ways, she replied: “In every single way, good, bad, strange.
“I love being a mum. Angelo has just fallen in love with music — been into video games for the past few years, which is very much his dad’s area and not mine — and we sit down and have the most intense conversations about music.
“But it’s not like I’m like, ‘Well did you know . . ?’ We sit with these songs and just pick them apart . . . and it’s just heavenly.”
Since separating from Simon in 2019, Adele has found love again with US super-agent Rich Paul.
And she told how he has encouraged her to embrace the opportunities that come her way without fear of who might be watching her.
I definitely would like a couple more kids.
Adele on romance and family
It would be wonderful
She said: “Sometimes I feel that I’ve fuelled it (the scrutiny) in the past by being such a recluse because sometimes it used to be two years and I wouldn’t be seen anywhere.
"I used to just hang out at home but also I have a whole set-up of how I move and no one ever knows, just so I can go out and be completely carefree.
“But the relationship that I’m in, he’s like, ‘If you want to go to that restaurant, you should go and try the food at that restaurant’, and, ‘If you want to go to this birthday party, then you should be going. You can’t miss out on these things. What’s the worst that can happen?’”
The Tottenham-born star also revealed how her smash-hit Chasing Pavements was inspired by an escape from London nightclub security guards after she slapped a cheating boyfriend.
She said: “I was seeing this guy, and it was at Frog, at an indie night called Frog, and I went there, and he was in there kissing this girl. And I got so angry and fed up, and I slapped him round the face and then I ran out.
“Security came after me, because they saw me do it, and I was running down Tottenham Court Road.
“And I remember not even doing anything, like just chasing the pavement and I was like, “Ping . . .”
“I went to the studio the next day to pick up my guitar, and we wrote Chasing Pavements that day.”
Her desert island record choices included Gabrielle hit Dreams, Shola Ama’s You Might Need Somebody and Bills, Bills, Bills by Destiny’s Child.
And her luxury item was a self-inflatable bed. She told Lauren: “I love my sleep. Just the other day Rich was like, ‘You take sleep so seriously, you’re like the Mike Tyson of sleeping.’”
On how she imagines her life in the future, she said: “I definitely would like a couple more kids. It would be wonderful if we can . . . if not, I have Angelo. I just want to be happy.”
She also admitted to feeling more at peace after “a lot of therapy”.
She went on: “I used to be so knee-jerk with my reactions and decisions, when I felt overwhelmed and I think I’m tired now I’m getting older.
“I ain’t got time for drama, I ain’t got time for arguing, I haven’t got time for not resolving anything. I’m just happy. I don’t put myself in situations anymore that drain me, and I choose people very carefully now who are in my life.
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“(When I’m at home) I love it, I’m a real homebody, I love pottering around and sorting out drawers and being with my son and my animals and being with my friends.
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She added: “It doesn’t take much for me to be happy and content, it’s really little things.”
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- DESERT Island Discs is on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4, today, 11am.
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