Rich Paul gives rare insight into five-year romance with Adele, reveals how they met

Rich Paul has revealed that he and Adele first met through mutual friends in a rare comment about their relationship.

The American entrepreneur and sports agent, 46, and British singer, 38, have been together for five years but are known for being extremely private about their romance, rarely ever speaking publicly about one another.

“I’d known her for some time. You know, just, when you’re in these circles, man, you’re in these circles. But I never tried to get fresh with people that’s in comfortable circles because they always have to deal with that,” Paul said on the Glass Half Full podcast.

“So that was never my thing. It was really something that happened very organically, really.”

He explained that they were never formally introduced by a friend; it was a case of simply being “in the same vicinity”.

“We’re all in the same circles, and we hanging and whatnot. And we just used to always see each other and laugh and joke, and it was just cordial ... Until it became not so cordial,” Paul laughed.

Paul and Adele were first linked back in July 2021 after they were spotted courtside at the NBA finals in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Paul had previously hinted in an interview with the New Yorker that he was “hanging out” with a major pop star at the time, but he hadn’t named who.

Rumours of their romance were made official in September 2021 when Adele shared a snap of the pair at NBA star Anthony Davis’ wedding.

In an interview with British Vogue of November that year, Adele confirmed that the pair were dating, explaining that he had “just incredibly arrived” in her life.

“He’s great. He’s so f--king funny. He’s so smart, you know,” she said.

The pair maintained their privacy over the coming year, but rumours began to fly after the 2022 BRIT Awards where Adele was spotted on the red carpet with a sizeable rock on her left ring finger.

Just a few days later she appeared on the Graham Norton Show where the host pointed out the diamond on her finger.

“As if I would ever tell anyone if I was or wasn’t,” she responded.

“It’s lovely though, isn’t it?”

She later seemed to confirm that the pair had secretly gotten married during a conversation with a fan at one of her Las Vegas residency shows in 2023.

“You can’t marry me. I’m straight, my love, and my husband’s here tonight,” she said in videos posted to social media.