Ed Sheeran Opens Up About Lifelong Battle With Addiction

By Hayden Brooks

July 28, 2020

Ed Sheeran doesn’t speak much on the subject, but the pop star was an open book when recently discussing his lifelong battle with addiction.

Earlier this month, Sheeran, 29, sat down for an appearance on an online summit on anxiety and well being for the Hay House Chasing the Present Summit, where he detailed his battle with addiction, whether it be food, alcohol or other things. "I have a very addictive personality. Very, very addictive personality," he confessed. "I'm reading Elton John's book at the moment and there are so many things that he did that I do."

"He would be like, ‘I would just go on an ice cream binge and eat four f***ing desserts until I throw it up’, and I was like, ‘I’ve done that before’. Or his martini binges, where he sees how many he can drink. And I’m like, ‘I’ve done that before too’. He ends up getting really f***ing sad and depressed and all of these things can can add to that," he continued, emphasizing his poor dieting, excessive drinking and lack of sleep while on his 2015 tour.

Thankfully, Sheeran has learned with age to combat the approach using measures like moderation. It's not easy, but it works for the star. "I think things like sugar, sweet stuff, junk food, cocaine, alcohol, it feels good the more you do, but it’s the worst thing for you, I think," he argued. "I think with addiction, it’s just very hard to moderate, but moderation is the key. I’m covered in tattoos and I kind of don’t do things by halves so if I’m gonna drink, I see no point in having a glass of wine. I’d rather have two bottles. Having a glass of wine is having something in moderation and probably isn’t going to affect your day the next day. But two bottles of wine probably might make you quite sad."

Sheeran isn’t doing it alone either. He went on to credit his wife Cherry Seaborn for being his go-to partner in the midst of the battle. "She eats quite healthily. So I started eating quite healthily with her. She doesn’t drink that much so I wasn’t drinking," he said, adding that she's also around to help him combat panic attacks.

Photo: Getty Images

Ed Sheeran
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