Ellie Goulding regrets responding to rumours she cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan

11 April 2023

Ellie Goulding regrets responding to unfounded rumours she once cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan.

Ellie Goulding regrets responding to unfounded rumours she once cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan

The ‘Burn’ singer, 36, has insisted she and Ed, 32, never dated, but made headlines in January when she took to TikTok to shut down years-old talk she had been unfaithful to him with 29-year-old former One Direction singer Niall – responding “False!” to one fan.

She has now told The Independent newspaper: “"I shouldn’t give in to that (rumours.) For me to think that the right thing is to respond to rumours, knowing that in real life there aren’t just ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ like there are in the fake world of social media and tabloids... I think, by replying, I’m kind of making out that world is real, or adding validity to a world that is manufactured to keep us scrolling and keep us in fear and fascinated by celebrities.

“I think that the best thing for me is to stay in the real world.

“But sometimes you just gotta – occasionally; every, like, five years or so – put something out there... .”

Ellie, who had son Arthur Ever Winter with her art dealer husband Caspar Jopling, 31, in April, had posted a video in which she danced to indie band PREP’s cover of Niall’s former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles’ solo hit ‘As it Was.’

A fan commented” “Can’t believe u cheated on Ed with Niall, but slay (for real)” – prompting Ellie to hit back: “False!!!!! But also slay.”

She admitted to You Magazine she was “really drunk” when she responded to the TikTokker.

Rumours she and Ed had dated started in August 2013 when they were seen holding hands while sitting together at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Though Goulding has long denied they were an item, Sheeran once suggested they were, in fact, a couple.

Ed stressed despite talk his single ‘Don’t’, which featured lyrics implying someone he dated had cheated on him, he had never named the woman.

He told Entertainment Weekly: “I never let it slip. What happened was one of the newspapers in England just printed that it was confirmed when it never was.”