Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has revealed the “great lengths” he went to in order to surprise Adele at the Grammys.

During the ceremony, held on Monday (February 6) at the Crypto Arena in LA, the actor was introduced by host Trevor Noah. Johnson’s appearance at the event had been kept under wraps, and was a specific surprise for Adele – who the actor then greeted.

Having been introduced by Noah, Johnson walked over to Adele’s front-row table. The pair then embraced and shared a couple of words. The London-born singer was absolutely delighted to meet the former WWE superstar, and couldn’t help but smile. Johnson later revealed how it was imperative to him that Adele was “authentically surprised”.

Adele has been a self-admitted fan of Johnson since his days in the WWE – something that’s been widely known for years. Equally Johnson has admitted to being a “huge” fan of Adele’s. The pair have previously tried to meet each other before, but work conflicts got in the way.

Johnson admitted that once he realised he’d be able to attend this year’s Grammys with his singer-songwriter wife, Lauren Hashian, he wanted to get on board with the show’s producers to create a surprise for Adele.

“We wanted to do something special for Adele,” Johnson told Variety. “I know that she is a very big fan of mine and has made that clear publicly many times. But I’ve got to tell you, I am a huge fan of hers, as well – her music, her journey, her openness and directness in how she speaks. I’ve always admired that about her.”

He added: “We were trying to figure out something to do that was going to be fun and surprise her, and we had kicked around ideas all week. The key to a surprise like that is to actually keep it a surprise. Myself and the Grammys went to great lengths to make sure that Adele was authentically surprised in the moment, and she was.”

Speaking about his evening meeting Adele, Johnson said: “It was just a great surprise and I was able to chat with her a little bit and her boyfriend, Rich Paul. And talk about the universe meeting our friendship halfway: I get up onstage and I open that Grammy envelope and it said ‘Adele.’

“So that’s why I was able to say, ‘Get up here best friend, Adele!’ It was such a special night. And she’s such a special iconic brilliant inspiring artist who has inspired a generation and who will continue to inspire generations to come. I love that woman. We had a really great time tonight. I think probably the best part about it is she’s just cool — and I had never met her before.”

Later on in an Instagram post, Johnson said being able to announce Adele’s win was a “beautiful full circle moment”. The Hobbs & Shaw star’s comments come after both Adele and fellow Brit Harry Styles‘ won two massive awards at the ceremony.