Ed Sheeran is learning Italian to impress his neighbours in Italy.
The 'Bad Habits' hitmaker owns a holiday home in Umbria, central Italy, and after years of touring the globe, Ed admitted he felt "embarrassed" not being able to speak any other languages.
The locals kept asking him if he'd started lessons yet, and Ed finally signed up for Italian classes in lockdown, though he's struggling to get to grips with past tense after failing languages in high school.
Ed is quoted by The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column as telling a radio station: “It’s the one thing I feel I got out of it. I have a house in Italy and every time I’d gone to Italy the locals were like, ‘You haven’t learnt yet have you?’ And I’d say, ‘I will, I will.’
“I just decided I was going to do it, so I do an hour a day and I’ve done that for about 10 months.”
The 30-year-old star - who has baby daughter, Lyra, 10 months, with wife Cherry Seaborn - added: “I’m in that at the moment and it’s like a completely new language. I failed German at school, I failed French at school, I’ve never really learnt languages.
“I’ve spent the last ten years travelling the world speaking English and feeling quite embarrassed about being in all these wonderful countries and not being able to communicate, so it’s really cool.
“It feels like a key, you unlock the door and suddenly this whole world opens up to you.”
Since becoming a dad for the first time, Ed has traded his rock and roll lifestyle and rained in his workload, as he recently revealed he is strict about sticking to a 9 to 5 working day and likes being tucked up in bed before 9pm.
He said: “The other night my wife was in LA and we had a Mexican takeaway and were in bed at 8.30pm. It was like the perfect evening.
“My work now is very structured. I work 9 to 5. I go into work at 9am and finish at 5pm, no matter what.
“Some producers work mad hours and I say to them, ‘If you don’t show up at 9am or between 9am and 10am, I am off’. We are either working or not working.
“I wanted to be present then after six months, I wanted to get structure in. It was really wholesome.”
