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Take a glimpse into the pair’s quickly escalating love story.
Adele and her boyfriend, Rich Paul, are still in the honeymoon phase of their romance, one year in, and already talking about getting married and starting a family.
The singer and NBA sports agent first met at a mutual friend’s birthday party—Adele revealed to Rolling Stone last November—and by the summer of 2021, had embarked on a serious romance. Paul is the first person Adele has dated since her divorce from ex-husband Simon Konecki—with whom the singer spent more than six years (and who inspired her latest heartbreak album, 30)—and while the two have kept their relationship mostly private, glimpses from public outings and candid interviews suggest it is the kind of romance that is made to last.
Below, see all the major highlights from the pair’s sweet relationship—and watch this space for more updates as their romance continues to bloom.
Adele—who currently shares nine-year-old son Angelo Adkins with ex-husband Konecki—shares her hopeful plans to remarry and have more kids following her split from Konecki, presumably this time around with Paul.
In a new cover interview with ELLE, the singer affirms her deep love and appreciation for her boyfriend and says that she’s “absolutely” hoping to marry again soon and expand her family. “I’m a homemaker and I’m a matriarch, and a stable life helps me with my music,” she tells the magazine. And of her romance with Paul, she adds, “I’ve never been in love like this. I’m obsessed with him.”
The singer also specifies that she and Paul have not actually tied the knot yet. “I’m not married. I’m not married!” the singer says. “I’m just in loooove! I’m happy as I’ll ever be.”
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“I definitely would like a couple more kids. It would be wonderful if we can,” the singer also reveals in an appearance on BBC podcast Desert Island Discs back in July. “If not, I’ve got Angelo. I just want to be happy.”
Parenting seems to be on the radar for both parties. In an exclusive interview with E! News, the agent talks fatherhood and reflects on what he plans to do differently as a parent. “If I was to have more kids, I’m looking forward to being a different dad,” Paul tells the outlet, adding that he vows to be a “more patient dad” if he gets the chance to be.
On May 11, the singer commemorates her first year of romance with Paul in a carousel post on Instagram featuring a romantic series of photos of the two looking affectionate. “Time flies,” she writes in the caption.
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The photos also seem to confirm that the two have at some point taken the big step to purchase a home together—as shown by the post’s cover photo of the two holding up keys in front of their new mansion in Beverly Hills.
In a new CBS special, Adele reveals that her relationship with Paul has been the first in which she has loved herself enough to also fully love her partner. “It’d be interesting to see what my reaction is like in general to anything that hurts me now that I feel so secure in myself, and I’m talking outside of romance as well,” she says.
“He’s just hilarious. Oh, he’s so funny, he’s hilarious, yeah. And very smart. You know, he’s very, very smart,” she also says. “It’s quite incredible watching him do what he does.”
Earlier this month, paparazzi photos also reveal the singer and the sports agent heading home from a filming session for Adele’s TV special, An Audience with Adele—an appearance that also marks her first performance in four years.
Adele opens up about her healthy, loving relationship with Paul in a cover interview—explaining how her 33 years of living and recent divorce have helped her see that this is what she truly wants. “I don’t feel anxious or nervous or frazzled,” she says. “It’s quite the opposite. It’s wild. … I’m a 33-year-old divorced mother of a son, who’s actually in charge. The last thing I need is someone who doesn’t know where they’re at, or what they want. I know what I want. And I really know what I don’t want.”
The singer adds, “I just love being around him. I just love it.”
Adele goes official with Paul on Instagram with a sweet, affectionate shot of the two inside a photo booth at Paul’s client Anthony Davis’s wedding.
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“They were so nice,” a family member of the bride tells Us Weekly of the two at ceremony. “[Paul] was at the table the whole time, and he let her just do whatever she wanted. … She was dancing with everybody. They would hug at the table. They’re a nice couple.”
The pair go unintentionally public with their romance in Phoenix, where the two are captured getting cuddly courtside during a game between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks at the NBA Finals.
Insiders at Us Weekly and People then confirm that the two have been dating officially for several months, traveling coast-to-coast between New York and Los Angeles to make things work.
Following their appearance, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explicitly refers to Adele as Paul’s girlfriend on The Lowe Post, adding, “This is the first time that they’ve come out in public together.”
In a profile for The New Yorker, the NBA sports agent first reveals that he’s seeing a “major pop star” whom we now know to be Adele—because, “Why not?” he adds. Though, Paul makes it a point to clarify that the two are not yet officially dating at this time. “I’m not dating, I’m single,” he says. “Put that in the story.”
