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Adele opens up about secret relationship after divorce: 'He is part of the storm'

"I was unable to pretend that I wasn't in my own storm," the superstar singer explained. 
CBS's Coverage of Adele - One Night Only
Adele performing during the CBS television special "Adele: One Night Only."Cliff Lipson / CBS via Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Adele is opening up about the deeper meaning behind some of her lyrics on her new album "30."

In the outro of the seventh track on the record, titled "I Drink Wine," the superstar vocalist says, "I didn't get to go on and make new memories with him/ There were just memories in a big storm."

The "Easy on Me" singer told The Face magazine in an interview released Thursday that the lines refer to someone she was interested in before she met her current boyfriend, sports agent Rich Paul. 

"It was, like, scrambling as quick as I could to get my life back together, so that I could feel normal again," Adele explained. 

She said she was not dating anyone at the time and added, "There was someone that I have loved — not been in love with, but been so fond of, and have been for years — but I was unable to pretend that I wasn’t in my own storm."

The relationship didn't work out because Adele said "I couldn't give myself properly" and both of them "couldn’t be consistent." 

She thought "it wasn’t right" to start another relationship a year after a divorce.

"Even if you feel ready, it's a gaping, open wound whether you leave or you’re left," she said. "So it was more that this person was asking for me to throw myself into it."

The musician was "still recovering from the breakdown of my marriage," so the potential relationship didn't go anywhere.

In 2019, Adele split from her ex-husband, Simon Konecki. The pair, who share 9-year-old son Angelo, officially divorced in March.

Her song "My Little Love" includes snippets of conversations Adele had with Angelo about the separation.

"Mommy's been having a lot of big feelings recently ... I feel a bit confused. And I feel like I don't really know what I'm doing," she tells her son. 

Adele.
Adele.Getty Images

Adele admitted to The Face that she connects this unnamed potential partner to the collapse of her marriage. 

"So therefore, he is part of the storm," she said. 

The singer recalled being thankful that she was honest because she did not want to end one relationship and rush into another.

"I became very aware of the patterns that I was repeating over and over again since I was 16 and 17 — not necessarily in relationships or, you know, intimate relationships, but also my relationship with my friends sometimes," she concluded. 

Now, Adele is currently dating Rich Paul, who founded the sports agency Klutch Sports Group and represents multiple NBA players, including longtime friend LeBron James.

She shared a funny story about the couple's first date, which he claimed was a business meeting, during her sit-down with Oprah Winfrey for the CBS television special "Adele: One Night Only."

"I'm like a business meeting about what?" she laughed. "And then it was the first time we ever hung out only on our own, and not go out with friends and stuff like that. So that was a very natural way, I think that's how people would normally meet each other in real life."

Adele gushed over Paul, adding, "He's also hilarious… and very smart. You know, he's very, very smart. It's quite incredible watching him do what he does. And just the easiness of it. It's just very smooth."