The singer-songwriter alludes to her feelings about being separated from her son due to work demands in the track “Hold On”, from her forthcoming album 30.

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey for the US TV special Adele: One Night Only, the artist said that the song was inspired by advice given to her by her friends.

“The lyrics of this song are so brutally honest,” said Winfrey, reading some of Adele’s lyrics back to her.

“I’m such a mess / The harder that I try I regress / I’m my own worst enemy / Right now I truly hate being me,” sings Adele in the new track.

Asked about the song’s meaning, she responded: “My friends always would say, ‘Hold on’ when I would feel like the lyrics in the verse. But it was just exhausting trying to keep going with it. It’s a process. You know, the process of a divorce, the process of being a single parent.

“The process of not seeing your child every single day wasn’t really a plan that I had when I became a mum,” she continued. “The process of arriving for yourself every day, turning up for yourself every single day and still running a home, running a business.”

Adele married charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki in a secret ceremony in 2016 after five years of dating. The couple shared nine-year-old Angelo together, but split up in 2019.

One Night Only will air on CBS on Sunday (14 November), with a UK air date still yet to be announced.

The special will feature footage of Adele performing new material at a show in LA, as well as the interview with Winfrey.