English pop icon Adele had a tearful reunion with her former English teacher and childhood inspiration onstage during an ITV special. Not knowing that Ms McDonald was about to appear, the star explained why she admired the teacher so much, saying “she was so bloody cool, so engaging. She really made us care and we knew that she cared about us.”
The host then dropped a hint that something special was about to happen, and Adele started looking around as Ms McDonald walked up to the stage. The look of happiness, surprise and emotion on Adele’s face when she saw her childhood teacher really said it all. The pair hugged onstage before Adele teared up with happiness at the unexpected reunion. You can see the video below.
Prior to the big reveal Adele said that Ms McDonald, who taught her for a year in grade seven, “got me really into literature. I’ve always been obsessed with English and obviously now I write lyrics. She was so relatable and likable that I really looked forward to my English lessons.”
The first words Ms McDonald said to Adele were “Oh my God, I’m so proud of you.” Adele then asked after her and exclaimed “oh, you look exactly the same!”, getting a laugh from the audience. The singer then said “you really did change my life.” Ms McDonald appeared on the special An Audience With Adele, where the singer also performed live. You can see her live cut of “Rolling in the Deep” from the event below.
After the reunion, Adele asked Ms McDonald if she could get her details from the producers to chat later, which of course the teacher happily agreed to. The singer then had to get her makeup fixed after tearing up. She asked comedian Alan Carr to cover for her for a moment, who sang an impromptu and completely out of key version of Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love”, cracking up the audience, before Adele resumed the show.
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