Adele gets a make-under for BBC Music special, pranks Adele impersonators - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Adele gets a make-under for BBC Music special, pranks Adele impersonators

Share via

Adele pulled a fast one on some fans during a BBC Music special.

The “Hello” songstress donned some over-the-top hair and makeup for an “Adele at the BBC” prank in which she introduced herself as Jenny, a nanny by day and Adele tribute artist by night, and auditioned alongside eight other Adele impersonators.

The singer introduced herself as Jenny to host Graham Norton, who was in on the prank, before the auditions began, and she gave him the rundown of the make-under that totally transformed her appearance.

“[I] just made my eyes look more catty and I’ve got a fake chin, a fake nose, and [the makeup artist] she’s drawn my lips smaller,” the singer said.

Advertisement

As the impersonators delivered their best take on her hits, Jenny struggled with nerves before hitting the stage last. She even had a false start during the gag, but once she started singing her new track “Make You Feel My Love,” the impersonators finally realized they’d been duped.

“As soon as she opened her mouth, you could just tell. You can’t mimic like that,” said Tallulah Windmill, the first woman to realize the real Adele had actually taken the stage.

“I did think she was strange, though,” Windmill, 28, told Entertainment Weekly. “She said she’d been doing [Adele impersonations] for four years, but she was wearing these long gloves and Adele had never worn gloves like that before.” Incidentally, the singer said she wore the gloves to hide her tattoos, which could have been a dead giveaway.

Advertisement

During the rest of the show, the Grammy and Oscar winner also performed new material and several famous tracks, including “Skyfall,” which she hadn’t performed on television since the 85th Academy Awards in 2013.

The 27-year-old released her third studio album “25” Friday, and it has quickly climbed the charts and broken a few records. By Tuesday, “25” broke the single-week U.S. album sales record, according to Nielsen Music. And despite withholding the album from streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify, “25” managed to sell more than 2.4 million copies in just more than three days.

Now that’s really what we call a fast one.

Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.

Advertisement
Advertisement