Inside Ed Sheeran's life from quitting drugs to love story with childhood sweetheart

Ed Sheeran is one of the UK’s biggest stars with fans forever curious to know all there is about his life when he isn’t performing.

All three episodes of Limitless season two has dropped on Disney+ has actor Chris Hemsworth finding out different ways that he can live better.

The first episode sees the 42-year-old learning how to play the drums as a bid to improve his brain power but to make the situation even more stressful, he’s got to play at an Ed Sheeran concert.

READ MORE: Hulk Hogan spotted 'watching own funeral' as Bam Margera spots eerie sign

READ MORE: Glow recipe's cherry-scented serum alternative is £30 less and found in B&M

With The Shape of You back on the small screen, here’s everything there is to know about Ed Sheeran’s life.

Bullying

While he may be a global sensation now, Sheeran wasn’t always popular and grew up struggling with bullying at school.

Speaking to DJ Nihal and rapper Dave, he candidly admitted: "I hated primary school with a passion; I cried every day.

“I'm ginger, so I was instantly ripped into from the day I started school – ginger, had a stutter, and wore huge glasses… just a bit odd.

“I have always looked a little bit quirky and I never had much luck with girls.

“It was always like I looked a bit weird and then when I started playing music every time I would do a gig everyone was like, 'Oh it's the ginger guy with the small guitar', and you get remembered for that."

Sleeping rough

As the 34-year-old was working on his craft, he left Suffolk to start afresh in London where he would busk and play gigs whenever he could.

It wasn’t always easy though as Sheeran often didn’t have anywhere to sleep and so had to get creative, as he explained in his 2014 autobiography A Visual Journey.

He wrote: “There was an arch outside Buckingham Palace that has a heating duct and I spent a couple of nights there.

“That’s where I wrote the song Homeless and the lines, ‘It’s not a homeless night for me, I’m just home less than I’d like to be.’”

He continued: “I didn’t have anywhere to live for much of 2008 and the whole of 2009 and 2010, but somehow I made it work.

“I spent a week catching up on sleep on Circle Line trains.

“I’d go out and play a gig, wait until 5am when the Underground opened, sleep on the Circle Line until 12, go to a session – and then repeat. It wasn’t that bad.

“It’s not like I was sleeping rough on the cold streets.”

Wife

Sheeran didn’t need to travel all over the world to meet the love of his life as he knew her growing up.

He first met his wife Cherry Seaborn when they were children in Suffolk but only reconnected in 2015 in New York when a mutual friend suggested they spend time together.

This ultimately led to a blossoming romance with a quiet wedding in 2018 and the birth of their daughters, Lyra in 2020 and Jupiter in 2022.

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2021, Sheeran commented: “I just found that I really didn’t have a purpose outside of [music] because when I was giving myself fixed time of no work, I wasn’t doing anything I enjoyed because I love doing music.

“And [being a dad] has actually given me purpose and something in life that’s actually more important than my job.”

Drugs and alcohol

Much to like many superstars, The A Team singer had taken drugs and drunk excessively, describing himself as a “party boy” to Rolling Stone.

"I was always a drinker. I didn't touch any sort of like, drug, until I was 24," he said.

"I remember just being at a festival and being like, 'Well, if all of my friends do it, it can't be that bad'. And then sort of dabbling.

"Then it just turns into a habit that you do once a week and then once a day and then, like, twice a day and then, like, without booze. It just became bad vibes."

It was then two things that led Sheeran to quit his addictions for good: becoming a dad and losing his friend Jamal Edwards.

The music entrepreneur died of cardiac arrhythmia brought on by cocaine use.

Sheeran said: "I would never, ever, ever touch anything again, because that's how Jamal died.

“And that's just disrespectful to his memory to even, like, go near.”

Going on to talk about the impact of becoming a dad, the singer added: “I don't ever want to be pissed holding my kid. Ever, ever.

"Having a couple of beers is one thing. But having a bottle of vodka is another thing.

"It's just a realisation of, 'I'm getting into my thirties. Grow up! You've partied, you've had this experience. Be happy with that and just be done.’”

Next album

The future is looking bright for Sheeran as he is set to release his new album Play on Friday, September 12.

This will be his eighth studio album and the first in a planned series of five symbol-themed albums.

Taking to Instagram, the singer shared: “Play was an album that was made as a direct response to the darkest period of my life.

“Coming out of all of that I just wanted to create joy and technicolour, and explore cultures in the countries I was touring.

“I made this record all over the world, finished it in Goa, India, and had some of the most fun, explorative creative days of my life.

“It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, it encapsulates everything that I love about music, and the fun in it, but also where I am in life as a human, a partner, a father.”

Limitless is available to watch on Disney+.