Inside Ed Sheeran’s love story with childhood sweetheart Cherry Seaborn after falling for her when he was 11 years old
ED Sheeran and his wife Cherry Seaborn have often kept their relationship out of the spotlight and away from prying eyes.
But fans will know that their love story goes further back that the pop singer's fame - with the pair being childhood sweethearts.
Ed, 30, sent fans into a frenzy on Friday morning when he announced an upcoming UK and European tour across 27 locations in 2022.
His following were delighted to see him return to the stage after taking time out to care for baby daughter Lyra Antarctica, who was born last August.
Ed and Cherry, 29, welcomed their sweet baby daughter just a year after they were married in an intimate family-only-attended wedding.
Fans often have prying eyes on the relationship between the pair - but more often than not, Ed has kept his cards close to his chest on their life together.
So for those of you looking to find out more, we give the inside look at Ed's love story with childhood sweetheart Cherry.
TEENAGE LOVE STORY
While Ed and Cherry didn't officially begin dating until 2015, the couple had met as children when they attended Thomas Mills High School in Suffolk.
It's believed that the pop singer had a crush on his future wife even back then, but their relationship was put on pause when she moved to America.
Cherry took off to the USA to study, and she wasn't to be reunited with Ed until they went to a party at Taylor Swift's Rhode Island home in 2015.
Ed told People Magazine of their meet up: "I was texting [Cherry] and she was like, 'I'm in Rhode Island at a 4th of July party'.
"I was like, 'So am I'. I kind of said to Taylor, 'Can I invite one of my old schoolmates?'. The rest is history."
The couple went on to spend time together in New York before romance was on the cards, with Cherry moving back to be with Ed in the UK in 2016.
Most read in Celebrity
"We were basically like, 'Let's both quit our jobs and have a year of forming a tight bond and a relationship," Ed said in 2017 of their budding romance.
It was then the couple decided to go travelling together, and ended up spending every day "for a year together" as they visited different countries.
On holiday, Ed spent time writing hit love ballad Perfect about his then-girlfriend, inspired by their time together in Ibiza.
"I just emailed it to her but she really did like it," the singer told Us at the time, revealing it would be the first song on the Divide album.
Following their travels Ed revealed that he had got down on one knee over the Christmas holidays and asked Cherry to marry him.
He took to Instagram to announce their happy news alongside a sweet picture of him kissing his future wife on the cheek.
"Got myself a fiancé just before new year," Ed wrote to his fans. "We are very happy and in love, and our cats are chuffed as well."
A SECRET WEDDING
Rumours of a secret wedding began to swirl in early 2018, just months after their announcement, as Sheeran was spotted wearing a ring.
It wasn't until August that the news was confirmed, when he was asked in an interview with Access about the plans for his wedding to Cherry.
Pointing at the silver ring on his wedding finger, he explained he had never really planned to "do anything too public anyway".
The couple had been wed in December 2018 before the holiday season at Ed's home in Suffolk in front of a small crowd of family and friends.
A source said of the day: "He wanted no fuss and he wanted it to be something entirely for them – just a tiny winter wedding."
Ed later confirmed their wedding date to Charlamagne Tha God, as said he "knew they'd be married" by the time his song Remember The Name was released in 2019.
A BABY ON THE WAY
In August 2020, Ed confirmed that his wife was pregnant with their first child - but the pair didn't give away too many details.
"They are keeping details of the baby’s sex and due date just to family until after the baby is born, which will be soon,” a source told Us.
The couple announced they had welcomed their “beautiful and healthy daughter,” Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran, shortly after in September.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“We are completely in love with her,” the new dad gushed on Instagram. “Both mum and baby are doing amazing and we are on cloud nine."
Lyra's adorable name is inspired by the main character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, which Ed has called the "best books I've ever read".
