Adele celebrated the release of her new album, 30, with the ITV special An Audience with Adele on Sunday night. Filmed November 6th at the London Palladium, the event found the singer performing a number of tracks off her new album while also fielding questions from celebrity audience members like Emma Watson, David Tennant, Mel B, Dua Lipa, and more. One thing Adele wasn’t expecting, however, was for a reunion with her old English teacher to be part of the evening.
Emma Thompson served as the plant, asking Adele if she had someone in her youth who “supported you and inspired you, or sort of protected you from all the trials and tribulations of life and inspired you to go on?” This led the pop star to discuss Miss McDonald, “a teacher at Chestnut Grove who taught me English.” Apparently, McDonald left the school when Adele was in year eight, so she only taught the future Grammy winner for one year, but that was enough to leave an impression.
“She got me really into literature,” recalled Adele. “I’ve always been obsessed with English and obviously now I write lyrics. But she also did street dance… She was so bloody cool, so engaging. She really made us care and we knew that she cared about us.”
Related Video
Well, Miss McDonald still cares, because she was in the Palladium audience. As she walked towards the stage, Adele burst into happy tears, shocked to see her old instructor after nearly 20 years. “I didn’t know that you were coming,” she said.
“That’s okay. It was supposed to be a surprise!” McDonald joked.
The two shared an emotional reunion on stage, with Adele waving to McDonald’s two children as a first meeting. Adele made sure to get McDonald’s number so the two could properly reconnect after the show, but then had to deal with retouching her makeup after having a good cry. She called on her comedian friend Alan Carr, to eat up some time with his delightfully off-key rendition of “Make You Feel My Love.”
Watch Adele’s surprise reunion with her beloved teacher, as well as Carr’s sing-a-long, below.
Last week, Adele shared a televised concert special for US audiences with CBS’ Adele: One Night Only. That event saw her playing for a star-studded audience at Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory, sitting down with Oprah Winfrey, and welcoming a fan’s surprise proposal on stage.
We all have that one teacher who changed our life… such a beautiful reunion! ❤️
*PS, would totally buy Alan Carr’s version of ‘Make You Feel My Love* 🤣@Adele #AnAudienceWithAdele https://t.co/2ZZI2RS0mI pic.twitter.com/hlTOOZKt5j
— ITV (@ITV) November 21, 2021
