Ed Sheeran has opened up about his battle with an eating disorder. The “Shape of You” hitmaker admitted in a new interview that he suffered from the condition after comparing himself to Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the “Perfect” crooner revealed that he developed eating disorder after comparing himself to “every other pop star.” The 32-year-old claimed he began struggling with his body image after collaborating with the likes of Justin and Shawn, who both have “fantastic figures.”
Admitting he felt “mad uncomfortable” talking about his struggles, Ed explained how he began “gorging” on food before vomiting it back up again. He shared, “I’m self-conscious anyway, but you get into an industry where you’re getting compared to every other pop star. I was in the One Direction wave, and I’m like, ‘Well, why don’t I have a six pack?’ ”
“And I was like, ‘Oh, because you love kebabs and drink beer.’ Then you do songs with Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes. All these people have fantastic figures,” Ed added. “And I was always like, ‘Well, why am I so … fat?’ ”
The “Bad Habits” hitmaker, who shares children Lyra, two, and Jupier, 10 months, with his wife Cherry Seaborn, continued, “I have a real eating problem. I’m a real binge eater. I’m a binge-everything. But I’m now more of a binge exerciser, and a binge dad. And work, obviously.”
Ed also compared his struggles to Elton John’s, who had written in his own autobiography titled “Me” that he “had developed bulimia.” Giving an example from the book, Ed said, “He [Elton] would be like, ‘I would just go on an ice cream binge and eat four f**king desserts until I throw it up,’ and I was like, ‘I’ve done that before.’ 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.”
Back in 2020, Ed said that he has a “very addictive personality” and confessed that he used to binge on alcohol and junk food for the first time. Although struggling with his busy touring schedule in the past and going through some “dark” moments, the Grammy-winning star credited Cherry with helping him through it all.
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