Adele has spoken out about the intense scrutiny she experienced after losing a significant amount of weight.
The “Easy On Me” singer shocked fans after she lost seven stone (approximately 44kg) in the two years leading up to her latest album release in 2021.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs on Sunday (3 July), Adele said some of her fans “felt betrayed” by the dramatic change in her appearance.
The 34-year-old explained to Lauren Laverne that she understood why there had been so much interest in her weight loss because she did not share her journey publicly “like everyone else does”.
“I felt terrible for some people that felt like other people’s comments meant that they weren’t looking good or that they weren’t beautiful,” Adele said.
“Some of the ones I saw were young, they were like 15. And there were some other people who felt very betrayed by me, being like, ‘Oh, she’s given into the pressure of it’. Which didn’t really bother me because you aren’t holding my hand at 4am when I’m crying my heart out with anxiety and needing a distraction.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Adele disussed the “brutal” reaction to cancelling her Las Vegas concert series in January, while adding that she still “stands by” the decision.
Her appearance on the radio show comes after Adele performed to a huge crowd for the second night of her BST Hyde Park concerts on Saturday (2 July). You can read The Independent’s review of the gig here.
Adele also addressed the negative reaction to her weight loss in an interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
She made it clear that while she felt “bad that it’s made anyone feel horrible about themselves”, it was not her “job to validate how people feel about their bodies”.
The Tottenham-born singer also said she did not intentionally lose weight due to a negative body image, but started exercising more because it helped her to manage her anxiety.
Describing herself as an athlete and a skilled boxer, Adele added that her weight might fluctuate in the future, but this doesn’t worry her.
“I don’t care if I put on weight. I don’t care if I lose it again. It’s not about that.”
Desert Island Discs airs Sunday 3 July at 11.15am on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
