The “Buffy” actress said that the entire classroom full of parents — including Witherspoon — were all “way too shy to call Adele” to schedule time for their kids to play together.

Sarah Michelle Gellar says she and Reese Witherspoon were too nervous to ask Adele for a play date

The "Buffy" actress said that the entire classroom full of parents — including Witherspoon — were all "way too shy to call Adele" to schedule time for their kids to play together.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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March 23, 2026 10:00 p.m. ET

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Sarah Michelle Gellar; Reese Witherspoon; Adele. Credit:

Grant Buchanan/Dave Benett/WireImage; Ian West/PA Images via Getty; Stefanie Keenan/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Sarah Michelle Gellar says she and Reese Witherspoon were too shy to pencil in a play date with Adele for all of their kids.

The *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* alum explained on a recent episode of *The Kelly Clarkson Show* that her and her husband Freddie Prinze Jr.’s son Rocky, now 13, attended preschool with Adele’s son Angelo, also 13, years ago. When her son expressed an interest in playing with Angelo one day after school, Gellar admitted that she and the other parents — including Witherspoon — were too intimidated by the “Skyfall” singer to pick up the phone and work out the details.

“They [the kids] all loved Angelo. Everybody loved this kid,” she explained. “They all wanted a play date, and everyone was like, ‘Well, who’s gonna call Adele and ask for a play date?’”

Sarah Michelle Gellar attends a screening of 'Ready or Not 2: Here I Come' on March 18, 2026 in New York City.

Valerie Terranova/Getty

Gellar took herself out of the equation immediately. “I was like, 'Not it, not it, not it!'” she exclaimed, raising her hand in the air. “Reese Witherspoon’s son [Tennessee] was also in the class. I’m like, ‘Reese, you’re the most famous. You have to ask Adele for a [play date].'"

But Witherspoon wasn't ready to say hello to Adele, either. "She’s like, ‘I don’t want to ask Adele!’" Gellar recalled. "None of us wanted to ask. We were all so nervous.”

When host Kelly Clarkson noted that Adele was probably feeling equally as nervous, Gellar replied, “I don’t know, but we were so… like, none of us wanted to ask her.”

Adele performs in Las Vegas on Nov. 23, 2024.

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The Emmy-winning actress revealed that Adele and her son Angelo, whom she shares with ex-husband Simon Konecki, eventually moved back to London in the end, dashing their play date dreams.

“She came into class and she brought all of these double-decker buses and a whole book about where her son was moving to,” Gellar said. “And our son came home and [he] was like, ‘Yeah, his mom came to school.’”

To say Gellar was a little envious that her son got to spend time with the 16-time Grammy winner is a bit of an understatement. “We’re all like, ‘What! What! Why weren’t we at school?!’” she added.

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Clarkson, who is mom to daughter River Rose and son Remington Alexander, pointed out that it’s important to find parents that you like spending time with when it comes to setting up play dates.

In response, Gellar clarified that Adele was “so lovely” whenever they crossed paths on the playground. “Let me end that story with she was so lovely and couldn’t have been nicer,” she said, “but, man, we were all way too shy to call Adele.”

*The Kelly Clarkson Show* airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings. Watch Gellar discuss her foiled preschool play date with Witherspoon and Adele in the clip above.

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