Touring music superstar Adele performed a sellout stadium show in Adelaide last night - her first concert since widespread media reportage about her unusual, hush-hush method of getting to the stage.
And she told the Adelaide audience she was "frightened" now her cover had been blown.
The singer's Australian toursees her performing in the round in massive sporting stadiums with no underground access to the pitch, leaving her with only one option to get to her starting position before the show: Go through the audience.
Adele performs at Adelaide Oval on March 13, 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. Photo / Getty
Not wanting to spoil the surprise or create audience pandemonium, the singer has been wheeled out each night in a cosy black box, passing within a few feet of thousands of unsuspecting fans just minutes before her show starts.
There were whispers each night, of course - fans who suspected the cramped box being pushed through the stadium to the stage contained the biggest-selling pop singer in the world - but for the most part, the thousands who attended each of her concerts were unaware of her cleverly low-tech entry.
But after Saturday's second Sydney show, the news spread far and wide through the media - and Adele now admits she's "scared" her ruse has been exposed.
"I've done so many shows in that box, and it has been a nightmare. This time when I came out, you all knew I was in it. I was scared, I was. I'm not lying; I was frightened," she told the audience at Adelaide Oval last night.
There she goes - right past thousands of her fans. Photo / Twitter
"So now, I'll just walk out and ruin the surprise and be like 'Oh hello, hello!'"
Adele will finish her Australian tour wit two shows at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium this weekend - we'll have to wait until then to find out if she really has ditched the box.
One thing's for sure, though - what started out as a cunningly low-key method of taking to the stage undetected has quickly become one of the most-watched parts of her concert.
