British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is not the type to shy away from romantic lyrics in his music. But who is Ed referring to in Perfect when he sings “We were just kids when we fell in love. Not knowing what it was, I will not give you up this time”?
Ed Sheeran is not single, he has been in a relationship with Cherry Seaborn since mid-2015. The pair got married in a top-secret ceremony in January 2019, and some media outlets are speculating that there’s a baby on the cards.
Who is Cherry Seaborn and how does one go about becoming the apple of Ed Sheeran’s eye? Keep reading to find out.
Who is Cherry Seaborn?
Cherry Seaborn is a 28-year-old Financial Risk Consultant from Suffolk, England. Born to Ann Lancaster and Matthew Seaborn, Cherry was raised in the south of England. As a teenager, she attended Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, the same high school attended by Ed Sheeran, who is two years her senior.
At the age of 18, Seaborn relocated to Durham, England where she enrolled at Durham University. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Cherry moved to Durham, North Carolina to study for a Masters in Management at Duke University.
After finishing her studies, Cherry relocated again to New York. At the time of her reconnection with Ed, she was working as a consultant for Deloitte and Touche.
She now lives with Ed at their Suffolk estate and works at Deloitte’s London office. In her spare time, Cherry is an avid hockey player. In recent years she signed with Wimbledon Hockey Club. Speaking of her hockey skills, Ed said:
“She’s the nicest girl you’ll ever meet, but on the field she’s a f*cking animal”
The Sheeran-Seaborn Love Story
Cherry and Ed initially met in high school when Ed was 11-years-old. They were friendly with each other, but not particularly close. So they soon lost contact when Ed moved to London to pursue his music career and Cherry moved to Durham for University.
Fast forward six years to 2015, Sheeran and Seaborn’s paths crossed once again. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Sheeran declared:
“She worked on Wall Street in New York, and I had like six shows [around New York in 2015]. It was around then, and we reconnected. […] I went to Taylor’s 4thof July party. I was texting [Seaborn] and she was like, ‘I’m in Rhode Island at a 4th of July party,’ and I was like, ‘So am I.’ I kinda said to Taylor, ‘Can I invite one of my old schoolmates?’”
So when Sheeran sings “something was born on the Fourth of July” during his solo in Taylor Swifts’ song, End Game, this is what he’s referring too!
For their first date, Ed invited Cherry to see him accept an award from the American Institute for Stuttering. Their second date was equally as star-studded, as the pair attended a birthday party for Adele’s manager.
Their relationship continued to grow from strength to strength, and it seems that Seaborn is the reason Sheeran decided to take a hiatus from music in 2016.
“The catalyst of taking a year off was also the fact that my partner quit her job in New York – which she’s now got back in London, which is really cool – basically we were just basically like, let’s quit our jobs and have a year forming a tight bond. So we went traveling and spent every day for a year together.” Sheeran told Zane Lowe of Beats1.
Marriage Material
Two years later in 2018, Ed announced via an Instagram post that he’d proposed to his childhood sweetheart over the festive period. He captioned the post:
“Got myself a fiancé just before new year. We are very happy and in love, and our cats are chuffed as well xx”
By January 2019, Sheeran and Seaborn were married. It was a small and intimate ceremony, limited to the pairs nearest and dearest friends. Ed confirmed their marriage in his song Put It All On Me.