Ed Sheeran’s Substance Abuse Confession

Singer Ed Sheeran is opening up about his past struggles with substance abuse.

In an interview with “The Jonathan Ross Show,” Ed reflected on his rise to fame and how he was unable to adjust to the lifestyle. He said, "I think you need to, when you get into the industry, adjust to it – and I didn't adjust because I was constantly working on tour. I didn't really have any growing up time into getting famous. All the pitfalls that people read about, I just found myself slipping into all of them. Mostly, like, substance abuse.”

Nearly two years ago, Sheeran announced that he was taking a year off, but never explained the reason behind the decision. He finally revealed, "I never touched anything. I started slipping into it, and that's why I took a year off and buggered off.”

He pointed out that it all happened slowly over time, to the point where he wasn't able to notice it. He explained, "I've worked my whole life to get to where I am and you can't lose that over something that you do in your spare time. I didn't really notice it was happening. It just started gradually happening and then some people took me to one side and were like, 'Calm yourself down.' It's all fun to begin with, it all starts off as a party and then you're doing it on your own and it's not so that was a wake-up call and taking a year off.”

During his break, Sheeran began dating high-school friend Cherry Seaborn, who is the inspiration behind his new single, “Perfect."

He shared, "I've rekindled with a girl I went to high school with and we live together now, and I think that was a real help grounding me. I was a 25-year-old in the music industry on tour, so I just needed someone to balance me out.”