Singing superstar Adele has, once again, taken the music world by storm. Her fourth album, 30, was just released a few days ago, and to help promote it, not only has the British songstress been doing a ton of interviews, but she’s also filmed a number of specials so fans who haven’t had a chance to see her live can get that experience from home. Unfortunately, one of her recent concert specials included an awkward sex joke from the Spice Girls’ Mel B that had to be axed before it aired.
While many people have already bought 30 (it became the top-selling album of 2021 after three days), and enjoyed Adele’s CBS / Paramount+ special, Adele One Night Only (which featured an interview with Oprah along with the concert), the singer also filmed a special earlier this month for British network ITV. That show, An Audience with Adele, featured a number of celebrity guests and saw the performer interact with them during her set. According to The Sun, Spice Girl and former America’s Got Talent judge Mel B made things quite awkward when it came time for her to ask Adele a question. An insider noted:
She was tasked with asking a question about the best gift Adele had ever received but when the cameras were on her she said she felt silly asking it. Then she made a joke and said she could answer the question for Adele and said it was a vibrator. No one really laughed, but Adele made a wisecrack about it and moved on. There’s no bad blood or issue between them, ITV just couldn’t air it because not only was it awkward as hell – it was a family show and there would be kids watching.
Well, I never! Melanie Brown, you should be...honestly, proud of yourself for taking the chance! You know, anyone who watched her judge on AGT realizes that Mel B can be rather unfiltered at times, and saucy pretty much always, so this kind of comment is the sort of thing you might get from her, TV cameras and an audience filled with other famous folk be damned.
I’m sure Mel B figured it wouldn’t really hurt to try and punch up her time in Adele’s special a bit. Let’s not forget that she’s also a consummate professional, and has been performing in front of live crowds herself for nearly 30 years. Adele’s ITV show was taped, so there’s no doubt in my mind that Mel knew if her joke didn’t work (or was deemed too spicy) they would just cut it out, and that’s what they did.
Plus, let’s not forget that Adele has also been known to have a great sense of humor (remember that she was very game when hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time), so I’m sure her making a wisecrack and quickly moving on was just a sign that she realized Mel B’s gambit didn’t work, and not her being at all upset by the move.
All in all, it seems like this was a no harm, no foul situation for both Mel B and Adele, with the special going off without much more of a hitch. Though, I have to say, I wouldn’t mind hearing the two singers riff on sex toys one day. That would probably be a funny and truly unfiltered conversation.
