An Irishwoman invited on to the stage by singer Adele at Germany’s Munich Messe venue has said the experience of embracing her idol was “surreal”.
More than six million people worldwide have watched videos of Adele being joined on stage by Allenwood, Co Kildare mother of three Paula Jones, who was in Munich for the concert with her husband Frank.
The Irish woman hugged and kissed her idol leaving a lipstick mark on the singer’s cheek.
At one stage Adele tried on Ms Jones’ sunglasses as Ms Jones explained that her husband Frank had gone to get more Prosecco.
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“You are definitely the craziest fan I’ve ever had on stage,” said the singer.
Bouncing up and down with joy, Paula said: “You know I’m Irish ... I’m here with my husband Frank.”
Adele replied quickly: “Frank from Ireland, I’ve got your crazy wife Paula up here with me.”
The encounter was captured on a giant screen, measuring 220m long and 30m high.
Speaking to Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday, Ms Jones said: “I think I’m still floating on a fluffy cloud, but, um, yes, I’m trying to control the adrenaline that is somewhat still in my body.”
“It was just the most surreal experience ever, meeting my idol. Well, firstly, seeing her in concert live, but then picked out of 80,000 people to join her on stage. I mean, it’s a pinch me moment.”
Referring to the footage of her jumping up and down, Ms Jones said: “Absolutely. I couldn’t stop. I mean, it was just my natural, honest reaction to meeting Adele. She was like, my best buddy ... She’s just so adorable. She’s so approachable. She’s a beautiful person. She’s so stunning, and like, you can have the crack with her. She loves having the banter. And I just hung out with her like she’s my best buddy.”
Ms Jones said she had been picked out because she was “jumping up and down in my in my sparkly outfit. So that’s when she said, ‘you in sparkly two piece, I want some of that energy’.”
Ms Jones said the “the stage alone is 43,000 sq ft, okay, yeah, just get your head around that for a second. Like the screen is 720ft wide and 98ft high” and was part of an arena that included, bars and a Ferris wheel.
Back home after the weekend she said her sons and wider family were delighted for her. “So I’m just a regular old Irish mum living in Allenwood in Kildare and married to Frank, as you know by now, and I’ve three wonderful teenage boys ... Well, thankfully they weren’t cringing.”
“They gave me all my support. I think a lot of the friends had contacted them, so they were, like, quite surprised when it all happened at first, but they’re over the moon. They just can’t believe they have, in their words, not mine, a famous mum.”
“Her make-up artist sent me a message afterwards. Such a vibe, and he loved me. So that was just so nice. Yeah, really was amazing. Honestly, the messages are coming in from all over the world. I’m beside myself.”
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