Ed Sheeran became overweight after eating “chicken wings for a year and a half”.

The 33-year-old pop star has revealed that his unhealthy diet led him to pile on the pounds while he was touring in the US.

During an appearance on the Session 24 podcast, Ed explained: “I was in my fat phase … in America, I used to think no carbs meant no bread, no fries.

”I was like ‘I can eat chicken wings’ and I just ate chicken wings for a year and a half. And I put on four stone.”

Ed ultimately decided to embark on a weight-loss journey, and he’s managed to maintain a healthy weight ever since.

He said: “I’m prone to putting on a lot of weight and what I found is just going to the gym regularly and trying to portion size.

”I don’t have an off switch. If I have one thing to eat, the off switch is there.

”Like if I have that, then I won’t be like I need to order another and another.

”If everything is in front of me then I will eat it.”

Meanwhile, Ed previously confessed to feeling uncomfortable when he was asked to take his shirt off for his Shape of You music video.

The pop star got himself in good shape by the time he shot the music video for his 2017 single – but Ed still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea.

He told Us Weekly: “My lifestyle changed. I realised I needed to start exercising, not necessarily to be slim but have a healthy heart. By exercising and not having such a wild lifestyle, you end up being a healthy human being.

”Having my shirt off in the video wasn’t my idea, though. It was the director’s and it kind of happened very last minute. I wasn’t really comfortable with it but he lit it in such a way that it ended up looking quite cool.”