Adele had the surprise of her life when her childhood idol, her English teacher, joined her on stage.

During the ITV special An Audience with Adele, actress Emma Thompson asked the singer about who influenced her the most growing up. Adele answered that it was her English teacher in school, Ms. McDonald.

Even though Ms. McDonald left the school during Adele’s tenure, Adele described the teacher as one “so cool.”

“It was just one year, but she…got me really obsessed [with] literature. Like I’ve always been obsessed with English and obviously now I write lyrics, but she also did street dance. I was too scared to join, but in the canteen, they used to do these dances and stuff like that…She was was so bloody cool, so engaging.”