
Quentin Brunson proposed to his girlfriend Ashleigh Mann with the help of Adele and friends.
Last night, Adele's first live concert in four years aired on CBS, and it was a night to remember for more reasons than that.
Held at the beautiful Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the concert was a star-studded event with gorgeous views of the city. Hearing and seeing Adele sing in a stunning black evening gown while the sun set behind her felt almost indulgent in its perfection, but the night was made even more special with a surprise proposal Adele helped orchestrate.
After Adele told the audience to be "really bloody quiet" and had the lights turned down, Quentin Brunson led his girlfriend, Ashleigh Mann, to the front of the stage. She was wearing noise-canceling headphones and a blindfold and had no idea where she was. When she took them off, she found Quentin down on one knee. She could see and hear the crowd, but it wasn't until after Quentin went through his tearful proposal that Ashleigh found out where she was and who she was with.
Watch:
New life goal: Get engaged in front of @adele. pic.twitter.com/ybfa922aHg— CBS (@CBS) 1636947341
Can you even imagine? "What is happening? Where am I? OMG, I'm getting engaged! Oh, Adele—HELLO! What? I'm on you're 'One Night Only' special that millions of people around the world are going to be watching on television? Take a seat in the front row, you say? Right here between Lizzo and Melissa McCarthy? UM, OKAY. Oh, you're singing to me now. Am I dreaming?"
How does one even take in such an experience? It was all so beautiful and clever and surprisingly real. Ashleigh's "Oh my god, I've been your girlfriend for so long" and her "In real life?" during the proposal and her simple, "Yeah" that sealed the deal were so dang cute. But her face when she saw Adele was absolutely priceless. And then Adele's cackle—AH HA!
The performance of "To Make You Feel My Love," just iced the cake. So, so sweet. We're all wiping our eyes with you, Melissa McCarthy.
Quentin and Ashleigh were interviewed by Gayle King on CBS This Morning and shared how the proposal came to be:
Ashleigh said she thought they were going to go on a hayride because they had been talking about going to a pumpkin patch. Ha.
Quentin himself didn't even know the surprise proposal opportunity was going to involve Adele herself until a couple of days before it happened. And the couple has had to keep the whole thing a secret since the filming—even from their friends and family—which had to have been torture.
What a fun and memorable night. Even people who aren't fans of public proposals gave props to the surprise. Any proposal that involves Adele singing directly to you in person is pretty much impossible to criticize and impossible to top.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."