Emeli Sandé forced to put wedding to Yoana Karemova on pause

Emeli Sandé has been forced to put her wedding to girlfriend Yoana Karemova on pause due to the singer’s hectic work schedule.

The “Next To Me” singer announced her engagement to classical pianist Karemova last September, not long after the couple embarked on their whirlwind romance.

As excited as the couple is to spend the rest of their lives together, they’ve been left with no choice but to put wedding plans on hold as Sandé’s itinerary fills up with bookings ahead of her upcoming album release.

The release of Sandé’s next album How Were We To Know, which drops this Friday (17 November), will be followed by a series of gigs that will keep her busy for a little while, so it made sense to put wedding plans on pause for a bit.

“We’ve kind of put them on hold until I get this album out and we do the shows this year but we’ll probably start planning next year or early next year,” the songstress told Metro.co.uk.

Among the songs on her new album, is one that Sandé wrote before she ever met her fiancée, but that seems to have manifested Karemova into her life.

The song, called “‘Cos Of You”, was inspired, she says, by the feeling of “when you first fall in love and suddenly the sky’s a different colour to you and your perspective on the world completely changes. So I’d say that’s the one song that inspired me the most.”

Sandé says: “When I finally met Yoana, that was the feeling I got. It’s lovely that it’s kind of predicted the future in a way.

“She really loves the album and she’s my biggest supporter. When she’s happy I’m happy.”

She added: “‘I’m a very romantic person I think even though things hadn’t worked out in the past, I still hold onto the hope that I was going to find my person, the person who really understood me and sometimes you can through music really manifest things.”

Emile Sandé and Yoana Karmova reportedly first met while the singer was recording her 2022 album Let’s Say for Instance, which Karmova contributed to.

In March 2022, Karemova came out in an interview with Metro, in which she said: “I just feel like I should fall in love with whoever I fall in love with.

“For me, true love and having love in your life makes everything fit into place.”

Sandé had previously said that she felt pressured not to come out publicly because of her career in the music industry, revealing that she felt like record label staff wanted her to “avoid coming out” for what she interpreted as their fear of how it would affect her career.

A few days after coming out, Sandé went social media official with Karemova, telling fans that she had found “the strength to be [herself].”

She added: “I am so lucky to have found my soul mate Yoana, she’s such an extraordinary woman! Falling in love with her gave me the strength I needed! Feels so good to be in love and I feel happier than ever.”