Ed Sheeran Used To Think He Was 'Gay' Growing Up

Growing up is tough for pretty much all kids, and it only gets more confusing when you’re questioning your sexuality.

Ed Sheeran knows that all too well, recalling his past struggles on a recent episode of the Man Man Man podcast out last week! During this chat, the English singer-songwriter candidly revealed not thinking he was straight when he was younger because he felt so different from the other boys he knew.

Sheeran confessed:

“I’m not a hugely masculine person.”

The star, who is married to his old school friend Cherry Seaborn, further explained his thinking by adding:

“I have a definite feminine side to the point where, when I was a kid, I thought I was gay for a bit.”

The Shape of You vocalist took a deep dive into the activities he loved and realized most of them were traditionally considered feminine hobbies, explaining:

“I love musical theatre, I love pop music, I love Britney Spears. My masculine side probably stops at drinking beer and watching football. I like a nice car, but I’m not a car guy.”

While he eventually came to understand his sexuality, it wasn’t until he met his wife, who’s “super pro-women and femininity,” that he began to appreciate the female energy. Speaking of his other half, whom he married in December 2018, Ed added:

“She works a very high-level job where she’s the top of her field. As soon as we started dating my life kind of shifted to that. She plays in a female hockey team [and] we hang out with them all the time. It’s very much like women empowerment.”

He now has every intention to foster more of that supportive environment for his daughter Lyra, who was born in August 2020.

“Before Lyra was born it was kind of [present] but now Lyra is born it’s even more [prevalent].”

Awww!! It’ll be so great for Lyra to grow up surrounded by female empowerment. The Grammy winner and his 29-year-old Mrs. have kept their family life super private up until now, so it’s great to get a glimpse into their parenting style. It’s obvious that Sheeran is making a great dad so far, and we’d have to assume his confusion over his sexuality will only come in handy when Lyra grows up and starts to feel insecure or uncertain about aspects of her life as well.

From the sounds of it, he’s already giving her a sense of agency by not forcing her to listen to him sing. In May, the Bad Habits crooner revealed at Radio 1’s Big Weekend that his 14-month-old isn’t a fan of most of his music, saying:

“I’ll sing [my new songs] to my daughter, who’s not my biggest fan. She just cries.”

Hah! His toughest critic yet. The 30-year-old has found a few tunes that she loves, sharing:

“I’ve got some she likes. She really likes Shape of You. The marimba sound is good, but she doesn’t like anything loud or anything belt-y.”

What a cute bond these two must be forming! Can’t wait to hear more about them in the future. Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Does this reveal surprise you? Let us know in the comments (below).

[Image via Lia Toby/WENN & Ed Sheeran/Instagram]