For months, fans thought Adele and NBA agent Rich Paul had gotten married in secret, and they had good reason to assume that was true: At one of the singer’s Las Vegas concerts in September of 2023, she referred to Rich as her “husband” while on stage. A few weeks later, she referred to herself as Rich’s “wife” during another concert. As it turns out, the duo had been using those monickers because they “loved the security of it,” a source told Us Weekly, but they never made the union official. Now, the pair is ready to take their relationship to the next step, and The Daily Mail confirms that Adele and Rich are officially engaged as of this week.
According to the outlet, Rich proposed last Thursday, July 18, 2024, in her hometown of Tottenham, which is located in North London. “Rich planned for the proposal to be in her hometown, and gave her an incredible four carat diamond ring,” a source noted. They reportedly celebrated their engagement over Champagne at the Chiltern Firehouse the next evening.
Though neither Adele nor Rich’s representatives have responded to The Daily Mail’s requests for confirmation, The Sun obtained photos of the pair out and about in London, in which Adele—who was clad in head-to-toe white attire—is sporting a new diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. They note that family members and friends of the couple expect the duo to host an “elaborate” wedding at some point in 2025.
Adele and Rich have been together since 2021. In May of that year, Rich was profiled by The New Yorker, and he explained that he was seeing a “major pop star” at that time, but didn’t note who it was. By July of that same year, Adele and Rich went public with their relationship while sitting courtside at an NBA finals game between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, in September of 2021, Adele made their partnership Instagram official by posting a photo of the duo attending a wedding together.
This will be Adele’s second wedding—she was previously married Simon Konecki, with whom she shares one son, Angelo, from 2018 until their divorce was finalized in 2021—and Rich’s first. Interestingly, Adele began referring to Konecki has her “husband” a full year before they tied the knot, too. According to People, Adele called her former partner her “husband” during her 2017 Grammy’s acceptance speech, but their divorce filing notes May 2018 as their wedding date.