Adele has said that she and Rich Paul have been friends for a while but didn't start a relationship until the beginning of 2021. Photo: TNS
Rumour has it that Rich Paul is Adele's husband. And by rumour, we mean it's the latest relationship gossip swirling around the couple – fuelled by Adele herself.
But it's unclear whether the couple of two years has actually tied the knot.
The Easy On Me singer again sparked marriage speculation during her Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency on Saturday (Sept 16).
The Grammy winner made the reference when speaking to a female audience member during the show, and footage of the exchange blew up on TikTok, convincing fans that she had wed the sports agent.
"You can't marry me. I'm straight, my love. And my husband's here tonight," the 35-year-old appeared to tell the fan off the cuff.
After the fan countered with "Can you try?," Adele quickly quipped: "No, I don't want to try. I'm with Rich. You're crazy, leave me alone."
Representatives for Adele and Paul did not immediately respond Monday to The Times' requests for comment. And fans – and reporters – were left chasing pavements about the latest rumour.
The Hello singer has said that she and Paul have been friends for a while but didn't start a relationship until the beginning of 2021.
Incidentally, Paul revealed in a New Yorker profile around that time that he had been "hanging out" with a major pop star, who wasn't named in the piece.
They were first outed as an item by celebrity-gossip purveyor Deuxmoi and in July 2021 stepped out for the first of many NBA games together.
They went Instagram official that September, when the Oscar winner shared a portrait captioned with a heart emoji.
But she didn't verbally confirm the relationship until Vogue published an interview with her a few weeks later. (The revelations came after she filed for divorce from Simon Konecki, with whom she shares a son, and upon the release of her album 30.)
"I didn't mean to go public with it. I just wanted to go to the game. I just love being around him. I just love it," the British superstar said. "He was like, 'What are people going to say?' And I was like, 'That you signed me. As an athlete. You're my agent.' And he was like, 'OK, cool.'"
The singer has said that they met on the dance floor of a mutual friend's birthday party a couple years prior while she was a "bit drunk" and solicited him to "sign" her. She has also described the romance as the most "incredible, openhearted, and easiest" relationship she's ever been in.
The heartbreak-ballad specialist set off engagement rumors in February 2022 after wearing a pear-shaped diamond ring during an appearance on "The Graham Norton Show." The bauble even prompted the talk-show host to ask if she was married again.
"If I was, would I ever tell anyone if I was or wasn't?," she said, remaining coy.
Late last month, during another Las Vegas show, the "Rolling in the Deep" hitmaker revealed that she and Paul had baby names on the brain.
"I really want to be a mom again soon," she told a pregnant fan, adding, "I've actually been writing a list. So every time I see a name that I like, I write it down in my phone."
Paul, who has three kids, has also hinted at wanting more. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
