Struggling with Body Image: Ed Sheeran Opens Up About His Battle with Bulimia

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In an interview with Rolling Stone, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran opened up about his struggles with body image and an eating disorder. The famous musician admitted to having bulimia, revealing how comparisons to other pop stars early on in his career led him to develop the disorder.

The Pressure of the Music Industry

Sheeran shared how he was often compared to other famous colleagues in the music industry, which led him to feel self-conscious about his appearance. He explained that being a part of the One Direction wave made him question why he didn't have a six-pack and constantly compare himself to other pop stars with fantastic figures.

"I was always like, 'Well, why am I so … fat?'," he said. Sheeran also related to Elton John, who shared in his memoir that he struggled with bulimia for six years. The singer explained that the situation escalated and resulted in him developing an eating disorder, confessing that he would gorge and then it would come up again.

Finding Balance through Exercise

Nowadays, Sheeran focuses his energy on fitness, trying to maintain a healthy balance between eating his favorite food and exercising. He acknowledged that he has a real eating problem, but now he is more of a binge exerciser.

"If you're eating food that you really wanna eat, but then also exercising and looking the way that you kind of wanna look. I feel like that's a good, good balance," he said. "So I eat, I love fast food. I love curry. I love drinking nice wine.

I love all the things that would be bad for you if you didn't exercise. But I feel like I'd go crazy if it was just no carbohydrates the whole time." Sheeran agreed with host Nicole Ryan who said, "the reason I work out is so I can eat and drink whatever I want." "And that's a really healthy way of being," he added. "It's all about balance.

Like you can have a filthy burger once a week if you want, and you can have ice cream every day if you wanna have it, it's just about balance."

Being Honest about Mental Health

Sheeran explained that he knows people will see his struggle with an eating disorder in a certain way, but he believes it's important to be honest about mental health issues.

"I know people are going to see it a type of way, but it's good to be honest about them. Because so many people do the same thing and hide it as well," he said.