Ed Sheeran says working with the likes of Justin Bieber, who has a ‘fantastic figure’, sparked a battle with his own body. Photo / Getty Images
Ed Sheeran has spoken out about his ongoing battle with his weight, revealing he’s struggled with an eating disorder sparked by working with certain pop stars, but has found the key to keeping himself healthy.
Appearing on CBS Sunday Morningover the weekend, the pop star, who has previously discussed his bulimia battle, called himself a “fat bloke” before sharing how he keeps his “weight in check now”.
“I keep my weight in check now because I do a lot of exercise, but I’ve just always been a fat bloke.”
While the interviewer told Sheeran, “You’re not fat,” the Shape of You singer explained he’s constantly cautious of keeping his weight down and that his bulimia began when he started comparing himself to other pop stars.
Speaking toRolling Stone magazine in March, he revealed after collaborating with Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber, who he says “both have fantastic figures”, he began struggling with his image.
While he confessed to being “mad uncomfortable” about speaking out about bulimia and was concerned about “becoming the poster boy for [bulimia]”, he told CBS Sunday Morning: “I think what is important about speaking about it is letting people know that it is not a problem that is just for one gender.”
Sheeran also addressed recent headlines following his court battle over a Marvin Gay song in which he was accused of stealing components of the classic 1973 track Let’s Get It On for his hit Thinking Out Loud.
He told CBS Sunday Morning: “There’s, like, four chords that get used in pop songs …
“And if you just think mathematically, the likelihood of this song having the same chords as this song? There’s multiple, multiple songs. It’s all the same four chords – some of them are like A, B, C…”
But last Friday morning, a jury concluded Sheeran didn’t steal key components of the song.
After three hours of deliberation, the unanimous verdict was reached by seven jurors in a New York City.
Speaking to People magazine following the decision Sheeran said: “I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed.
“It’s nice that we can both move on with our lives now — it’s sad that it had to come to this.”