AceShowbiz - Adele's father has spoken for the first time about their fractured relationship and revealed his torment over the drink problem which drove him away from his famous daughter. The British singer's dad, Mark Evans, walked out on her mother when Adele was just a baby. He had little presence in her childhood and they went years without any contact.

Evans has now revealed he started drinking heavily after the death of his father in 1999 and his battle with alcoholism drove a wedge between him and his daughter. He tells Britain's The Sun, "I was a rotten father at a time when she really needed me. I was putting away two liters of vodka and seven or eight pints of Stella [beer] every day."

"I drank like that for three years... I was deeply ashamed of what I'd become and I knew the kindest thing I could do for Adele was to make sure she never saw me in that state... I was not there for my daughter when I should have been and I have regretted that every second of every day to this moment now. It tears me up inside."

But Evans admits he has now patched up his relationship with Adele, following an emotional meeting in London, "We met up at Camden Market and we were sitting at a stall drinking tea when I brought up the subject of my drinking. I started to tell her what had happened to me and she gave me this huge, kind smile and put her arms round me. 'It's OK, Dad. I understand. I forgive you', she said. Just like that, she forgave me. I was so grateful."

Adele now has regular contact with her father, as well as her 15-year-old step-brother Cameron.

"Adele still comes back to Wales to see us and I pop down to London every couple of months to meet her," Evans adds. "The last time I saw her was about six weeks ago. We get on fantastically now so who knows, one of these days I might even find the courage to see one of her shows. I am the proudest dad in the world. I think she is amazing as a person, not just as a performer."