A musician living in Bodrum claims to be the father of British pop star Adele. Mehmet Asar, 52, told reporters for Doğan Haber Ajans that he had a fling with the superstar’s mother when she was holidaying in Turkey, nine months before the singer was born.

According to Mr Asar, he met Penny Adkins in the summer of 1987 when he was working as a taxi driver in Bodrum and the pair hit it off romantically:

“I gave Penny Adkins and her friends a tour of the bays of Bodrum and Pamukkale over two weeks. She introduced herself to me as a nurse. We liked each other and had an affair for two weeks. She extended her vacation and returned to England one month later. She later came back to Bodrum twice and stayed for one month.”

Mr Asar, who now makes a good living playing the saz and singing Türkü (Turkish Blues), claims the dates of his fling and the birth of Adele in May 1988 match. He also claims that like him, Adele has conjoined fingers. He has invited the mother and daughter to Turkey and is willing to undergo a DNA test to prove he is the father.

He said, “I think and feel that I am Adele’s father. I can even take a DNA test if Adele wants. The most important thing I want people to know is that I do not have any particular expectation. I live in Bodrum and have a good life, I just want my daughter to know the truth.”

Adele was born in Enfield, North London. Her father is commonly thought to be Welshman Mark Evans. He had met Ms Adkins in a Tottenham pub in 1987 and the two dated, before moving in together after Adele’s birth. However, he walked out on the family when Adele was aged just two.

Suspicions about Adele’s Turkish roots first surfaced following her comments in an interview with Dutch TV channel RTL in 2015. In response to a question by the reporter about her curvy appearance, the superstar said: “It’s funny ’cause all my family are so thin, they’re Turkish, Spanish and English”.