How Adele is at centre of bust-up between Alan Carr and his ex after ‘spiteful’ divorce

Adele has been dragged into a “spiteful” divorce between comedian Alan Carr and his ex, with the former couple going toe-to-toe over their friendships with the star.

Alan and Paul were married in 2018, with Adele facilitating the ceremony.

British comedian Alan Carr is at the centre of a bust-up with his ex-husband in a row over their respective friendships with pop superstar Adele.

Breaking his silence in an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday — Carr’s ex, actor Paul Drayton, hit back at Carr’s claims that he had been “greedy” in their divorce.

Drayton spoke out after Carr said on TV recently that he had won “custody of Adele” after his 13-year relationship with Drayton ended.

“Adele is one of my best friends and the truth is she was closer to me than Alan,” Drayton, 51, told the publication.

“The comments he made were in bad taste. They really upset me, to be honest, as there was also the suggestion I was being greedy.

“I texted Alan afterwards and said, ‘This is out of order, it’s upset me and it’s upset my mum’. He didn’t respond.

“I sent Adele the same clip and she replied, ‘Just take the high road, babe’, meaning just ignore it.

“She is amazing at giving advice, she really is. I know that whenever I need her, she will be there for me because she’s a loyal friend and an incredible person.”

Alan Carr and Adele have been friends for years. Picture: Instagram/@cattyman

Carr, who turned 47 on Wednesday, was appearing on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown last year when he made the Adele gag.

Pulling out a series of dismembered props in front of a celebrity panel, he said his ex’s lawyer had insisted on a 50 per cent split.

He joked they had agreed who would see Adele and who would spend time with TV star, Gok Wan.

“I’ve gone through a really spiteful, messy divorce,” Carr said at the time.

“My ex’s lawyer said take half of everything, look at that. But not just that, household items. Look at that, half a kettle, half a toaster, half a fondue set. All the cheese goes all over the floor.

“Obviously, people want to know about … We’ve divvied up our celebrity friends. I get custody of Adele. Paul gets Gok at the weekends. We’re still friends. I know he’s taken half of everything. But the one thing he can’t take is my dignity. Am I right?”

Alan and Paul were married in 2018, with Adele officiating the ceremony.

Drayton believes one of the show’s sketch writers was responsible for the “really nasty” comments.

While he has not spoken out ­before about their divorce, he now wants to finally set the record straight.

He added: “My mum didn’t like me being called greedy on television.

“They were saying that I had asked for half of everything, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“And of course Adele didn’t cut me off. Some of Alan’s friends are no longer speaking to me, which I totally understand as it’s difficult for them. But Adele and I have always been close and that’s not going to change.

“Alan and I got divorced in April last year and we agreed what to ­settle on fairly and amicably. We are still friends and both get to spend time with our dogs.”

The pair were first introduced at a central London private members’ bar in 2009.

Drayton was working in catering to pay the bills, having put his acting ambitions on hold.

“Alan immediately started to crack out the jokes and he made me laugh. We started flirting and we ended up going to a club and having a right laugh,” Drayton said.

“I woke up the next day thinking, ‘Did I snog Alan Carr last night?’. I rang my friend and he said, ‘Yes you did and he wants to see you again’.

“Within a couple of months, we’d moved in together.”

They first met Adele, now 35, early in their relationship when she was living nearby in West London.

Drayton claimed he was still in close contact with Adele. Picture: Niklas HALLE'N / AFP

“We were backstage at the Brits and I saw her walking past. I shouted, ‘Adele, my other half loves you’,” Drayton said.

“She said, ‘Who’s your other half?’. I said, ‘Alan Carr’. She said, ‘I love Alan Carr’.

“We started meeting up with the dogs and she would come round for a glass of wine.

“She loved me because I was very straight up and honest.

“We would have heart-to-hearts all the time. I always call her Pam. It’s because we used to go to TK Maxx together and I’d shout ‘Pam’ rather than use her real name.”

In 2012, Drayton and Carr moved on to a farm in West Sussex, where they kept rescue horses, sheep, alpacas and chickens.

A few years later, Drayton proposed.

Adele was so thrilled about their engagement, she insisted on hosting their wedding at one of her two new homes in Los Angeles in 2018.

She also got ordained so she could officiate the 2018 ceremony.

“There were only six of us at the wedding, including Adele, her then-husband Simon [Konecki] and two of our closest friends,” Drayton remembered.

“Adele planned the whole thing. The ceremony took about half an hour. Adele wrote the vows — I still have them — and put on priest-like robes so she looked the part.

“We had a wall of flowers and ­pictures of our families and dogs on a table covered in rose petals. At one point, one of the neighbours started mowing their lawn.

“Adele got on the phone and said, ‘Excuse me, I’m really sorry but I will pay for someone to mow your lawn but you can’t do it today’. We had a right laugh.

“Adele sang for our first dance accompanied by our friends, one of whom is Pink’s guitarist and the other being Taylor Swift’s backing singer.”

Drayton quit drinking following their romantic honeymoon in Mexico, as he could see his alcohol consumption was getting out of control.

But he fell off the wagon during lockdown and the couple decided to separate after Drayton posted a photo of his bruised face on Instagram in August 2021.

Fans assumed he was accusing Carr of domestic abuse but he describes it as a “cry for help” and there is nothing to suggest the comic did anything wrong.

In January 2022, Drayton was jailed for 14 weeks after admitting being four times the limit while driving.

After hitting rock bottom, he has embarked on what he calls a ­“journey of sobriety” and he is also in a new relationship.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission