I’ve finally stopped being a maniac now I’m a dad admits Ed Sheeran as he reveals he’s ditched drinking as well as drugs

IT has been almost five years since Ed Sheeran became a dad and he admits it has ­completely changed his life – mainly because he’s no longer a “maniac”.

The superstar, who is father to daughters Lyra and Jupiter, revealed in his first in-depth interview in almost two years that things are “dramatically” different for him now.

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Asked how life had changed, he explained: “Just not being a f*ing maniac with drink and drugs or smoking. I exercise now and I never exercised before.

“I get up in the morning, whereas I used to sleep until, like, 4pm. It really has changed ­dramatically.

“I’m home more and my work schedule is based around them, and not around me.”

Two years ago, Ed said he would never touch drugs again after his close pal, music mogul Jamal Edwards, died following cocaine use.

But the Shape Of You singer has now gone one step further.

He said: “I’m sober at the moment, so that’s helping with not doing stupid st.

“I saw the schedule for this year with the album release, and I’m basically flying all over the world, then being Dad at home as well.

“I don’t want to add an extra layer of tiredness to that, so I’m just going to not drink and instead be focused and energised.”

Ed married Cherry Seaborn in 2019, and it sounds like she has also played a big part in the chart-conquering star maturing.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Ed said: “Cherry is the biggest grounding force.

“Any time that anything is a little bit too Hollywood, she’s like, ‘Bro, come on . . . ’.

“I tried to build a bowling alley in our back yard and she was like, ‘Come on man, you don’t need that’. She doesn’t want our kids growing up and it being like the Richie Rich [movie] house with its own McDonald’s.”

It’s clear that after a decade together, Ed is still very much in love with Cherry.

He dropped his comeback single, Azizam, last Friday, and will release his album, Play, in September, with the final track being one which he only added because his wife loves it so much.

Name-dropping Bono and ­revealing they have secretly been working together, Ed explained: “I spent a bit of time working with Bono from U2, and the song Sweetest Thing . . . he gifted that to his wife.

I’m sober, so that’s helping with not doing stupid s**t 

Ed

“I heard that story when hanging out with him and his wife. I came home and told Cherry, and it was born out of that.”

The couple and their kids live on a spectacular Suffolk estate, where Ed loves collecting movie mementos.

And it sounds like Cherry has to put up with all sorts after Ed confessed he is hooked on buying memorabilia for an entire wing of his huge house.

The Thinking Out Loud singer, whose sprawling retreat boasts a lake and a chapel, said of the pub he has also constructed on site: “There’s a tunnel to it.

“And in the tunnel I built a ­listening room and there’s a ­cinema — it’s less of a man cave and more of a man catacomb.

“I collect movie props, too, so I’ve got all of that there. I’m a huge Hook fan, so I bought Robin Williams’ Pan costume and Julia Roberts’ Tinker Bell costume.”

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Asked if he’d spent more than six figures, he added: “No, not on those ones. I have done on props before. I bought C-3P0. That was not cheap!”

I had a quick search and can see a head of the Star Wars droid fetched £665,000 last year. while another version sold for £693,000 in 2023. But that’s pocket money for Ed, who is worth £300million.

And it’s not just big-screen ­souvenirs he likes to splash out on. He said of his extensive tattoo collection: “My legs have actually started being my kids’ drawing books.

“So my daughter’s just done a little bunny rabbit for my leg, and you can put the date on it.

“I think I’m going to get one for each of them every year.”

Ed has promised to release songs all through the summer, before his album comes out days after the end of his mammoth, 165-date Mathematics Tour.

But don’t expect to see him ­taking to one of the world’s biggest stages — the US Super Bowl half-time show — next year.

End goal is a move to Nashville and transition to country

Ed

Bluntly, Ed told me: “There was a conversation about ten years ago to go on with someone, and I think that’s the only way that I would do it. Me going up there and being like, ‘Here’s The A Team’, and ‘Here’s Perfect’ — no one wants to see that. I can’t ­picture myself doing it.”

However, it sounds like we may well lose Ed to the US one day.

On his desire to move into country music, he said: “When you transition to country, you can’t transition back.

“Nashville is my favourite city in the States and it’s always been my end goal to move to Nashville and transition to country.”

He’s bloody good at pop music, so I hope that move is at least a few decades away.

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SEAN PAUL was born and raised in ­Jamaica, but ahead of his Bring It Tour, he’s got a secret ­connection to the UK.

“I have roots in Rugby and Coventry,” Sean tells me in an exclusive chat.

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“My grandma is from there. She turned 100 in February and got a letter from the King which is very cool. For me especially, it was a sad time when the Queen passed away. I grew up with my grandma and her cup with the Queen on it.”

Get Busy star Sean is playing a string of UK dates with Ashanti on the tour, including a show at London’s OVO Wembley Arena with Fat Joe next Friday.

And the star reveals he is excited about eating some of his grandmother’s favourite grub while he’s here.

“I love fish and chips and bubble and squeak,” he says.

“It’s stuff like that she used to make.

“She used to brag that only an Englishwoman can cook a potato.”

Have a Greggs sausage roll and you’ve nailed the classic British menu, Sean.

WHY wear one shade of pink when you can have them all, eh Kesha?

The TiK ToK singer wore this boxy jacket over a rose-hued mini dress as she filmed an interview in New York.

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She’ll be back in the UK in June when she has a headline set booked at South London’s Mighty Hoopla, along with a tour.

AFTER soaking up the sun in Dubai for a week with her family, Zara McDermott has hot-footed it over to Los Angeles . . . and for very good reason.

Her new man, former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, has been at his home in the States with relatives and now she is joining them.

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The pair were spotted watching Stereophonics at the Wiltern Theater in the city before heading back to Louis’ posh pad.

And they made it clear they were there together after they both posted Instagram stories of the show from the same spot in the crowd.

I first revealed that Louis and Zara had enjoyed a string of dates last month.

Friends told me that he had fallen hard for the former Love Island and Strictly star and was going all out to impress, including treating her to a night away at a posh hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

And it seems their relationship is going from strength to strength.

My source said: “Louis and Zara are totally hooked on each other.

“They have kept everything very low key so far, but the relationship is getting more serious.

“Zara has been busy ­filming a new documentary for the BBC, but she scheduled in a break to get away with her family, then spend some time with Louis.

“She is really happy and has found someone very special in Louis.

“They share a lot of the same values and they both have a wicked sense of humour.”

It’s great to see Zara smiling again.

And Louis, you are one lucky man!