Ed Sheeran 'suffers with anxiety EVERY DAY' and only trusts four friends and his wife
13 July 2019, 10:58
The Shape Of You singer opens up about his mental health struggles and reveals he often feels 'claustrophobic' and like 'a zoo animal'
Ed Sheeran has opened up about his crippling social anxiety, admitting that he only trusts a handful of friends and his wife in a revealing new interview.
The 28-year-old superstar explained that he also suffers from claustrophobia and has cut most people out of his life due to his mental health struggles.
During an interview to launch his brand new album, No.6 Collaborations Project, the Shape Of You hitmaker told radio host and author Charlamagne Tha God: "I get anxiety every day."
"It creeps up on you. I’ve been working on it for eight years and I closed off from reality.
"Whether it’s getting rid of your phone or only looking at emails twice a day. Or cutting down my friendship group to the bare minimum just so I can trust everyone.
"I let people in from a, ‘Let’s hang out place’. There is letting in and then there is letting in.”
The Ipswich-born singer, who was catapulted into the spotlight in 2011 with his first album '+', might have sold 150million records but revealed fame has left him feeling cut off from the outside world and anxious about being among too many people.
He continued: "I have social anxiety. I don’t like large groups of people, which is ironic given I play shows to thousands of people.
"I feel claustrophobic and I don’t like being around many people. I have no problem with talking to people. But it’s when people film me and stare at me. It makes me feel weird.
“It makes me feel like I’m not human. If you want to come up to me and have a conversation with me. Even if we’ve never met, just come up."
He continued: "But what instantly cuts me off is that you’re having a moment with them which is so genuine and so nice and then at the end they ask for a picture."
“It puts you down to earth and you’re just 15 likes on Instagram. That’s all you are. I was at a Marilyn Manson show and a man shook my hand and said he liked my music, and that was it. That was so nice.
"Like if I am eating in a restaurant now, I would prefer to have a private room because if I eat in the public room I have people filming me while I’m eating my food.
"You feel like a zoo animal. I don’t mean to complain, I have a cool job and life. But I just want to avoid that.”
Ed, who made a whopping £500million from his last tour, also opened up about his relationship with wife Cherry Seaborn, 27, and said he often questions why she stays with him.
“I constantly wake up every day and look at Cherry and think, why the f*** are you with me?
"She could be with anyone she wants to but she has chosen me."
After acknowledging his mental health battles were worsening, Ed took measures to protect himself by setting up a quiet life for himself and Cherry in a £2million estate in Suffolk.
He said: “I used to live in New York and I went out every night but releasing Shape Of You took me to a new level of fame. I was meeting people every day from movies and music.
“I was getting sucked up into it. I felt myself getting drained. If I lived in central London and hung out with people, I wasn’t sure if they were friends with me because of me, or who I am. That’s why I moved here.”
Despite speaking at length about his social anxiety, the British star insisted his new, private lifestyle combined with his close-knit group of friends and wife are helping him to heal.
"All of these things are in place to protect my mind and it’s working, I think."
Ed’s latest works, No.6 Collaborations Project, features a collection of duets with some of music's biggest stars, from grime artist Stormzy to pop star Justin Bieber.
