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Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, have one of the sweetest love stories in Hollywood.
The couple have known each other since they were kids, and started dating not long after reuniting in New York City in 2015.
In January 2018, Sheeran and Seaborn secretly got married during an intimate ceremony with only 40 guests. Nearly two years later, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Lyra Antarctica, and in May 2022, their second child, daughter Jupiter, arrived.
While pregnant with Jupiter, Seaborn was diagnosed with cancer. She spoke publicly about her health for the first time in Sheeran's Disney+ docuseries, Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, which premiered in May 2023. The "Shivers" singer also opened up about his wife and how much she means to him.
"Everything in my life got so much better when Cherry got into it," Sheeran can be heard saying in the series trailer.
Despite her high-profile relationship, Seaborn is a private person who doesn't have public social media accounts and tends to stay out of the spotlight. Still, here's everything we know about her and her relationship with Sheeran.
She grew up with Sheeran
Sheeran and Seaborn have known each other for a very long time: they first met at Thomas Mills High in Suffolk, England and were friends for a while.
Their relationship was never romantic in high school, though. During an interview on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Sheeran said that if they had dated back then, "it would have been a disaster."
The friends lost touch when Sheeran went on tour and Seaborn headed to Duke University in North Carolina. In 2015, however, the pair reconnected in N.Y.C. after a mutual friend invited them both out.
"One day, she was in New York and she went to go out with Cherry because Cherry worked on Wall Street," Sheeran shared on the podcast of his friend and touring buddy Lauren. "And then she was like, 'Oh Cherry Seaborn is in town, do you want to hang out?' I was like, 'Yes.' "
He went on to say that he had been nervous about seeing Seaborn again, since the last time they were together, they had "hooked up." "So in my head, I was like what if she remembers that because it was like a while ago. It was very innocent. Very gentle, it was a kiss."
She moved to America to pursue her master's degree
After graduating from Durham University in the United Kingdom, Seaborn headed to Duke University in North Carolina in 2013. During an interview with Duke's The Chronicle, she shared that living in America was always part of her plan. "Ever since I was in high school I've always wanted to … study in the United States," Seaborn told the publication.
After receiving her master's degree at Duke, Seaborn headed to New York, where she worked on Wall Street for the accounting firm Deloitte. In 2016, she moved back to the U.K. to work for the firm's London office.
She was a field hockey star
Seaborn was something of a field hockey superstar when she was in college. She started playing collegiately while at Durham University in the U.K., where she led her squad to the British University championship in 2012 and 2013.
She continued playing field hockey at Duke University while also studying at the business school.
Seaborn still tries to make time to play field hockey today. In 2021, photographers spotted Sheeran watching Seaborn play with her team in Suffolk.
She's friends with Taylor Swift
After reuniting in New York in 2015, Sheeran and Seaborn had one of their first official dates at Taylor Swift's Rhode Island mansion. The two met up there during one of Swift's legendary Fourth of July parties.
Sheeran told PEOPLE in 2017, "I went on tour again, and then I went to Taylor's Fourth of 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?' The rest is history."
A year later, the couple celebrated their one-year anniversary at another one of Swift's bashes. Sheeran and Seaborn were spotted kissing on the lips in the background of a photo taken by Swift's friend Abigail Anderson.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Anderson wrote, "When there's literally so much love around your only option is to make a room for all of your love banners and sing love songs to each other. @taylorswift we LOVE you! Kudos to @teddysphotos for the photobomb of the year."
The "Shape of You" singer also told PEOPLE that Swift and Seaborn have since developed a friendship of their own. "[She] and Taylor have hung out without me quite a few times; I think they have gal chats," he said. "I don't know what they get up to, talking about cats or whatever."
She is Sheeran's musical muse
Sheeran released his album ÷ (Divide) in March 2017, which included the ballad "Perfect." The singer later revealed that he wrote the song after attending a party at James Blunt's house with Seaborn.
"We got really hammered and took our shoes off and danced on his lawn and then jumped in the pool," he told Radio.com. "And then the next day I was like, 'That's a cool story,' so I put it in a song."
Sheeran's verse in Taylor Swift's "End Game" also seems to have been inspired by Seaborn. In the song, he sings, "Knew it when I was young / We connected when we were a little bit older" and "Something was born on the Fourth of July."
He also mentions her in the song "Remember the Name" on No. 6 Collaborations Project. In the song, he raps, "Watch how the lyrics in this song might get twisted / My wife wears red but looks better without the lipstick." In an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, he explained, "It was actually before me and Cherry got married, and I knew that we'd be married by the point that the song came out."
In September 2023, Sheeran released his album Autumn Variations, which he said was inspired by his time in the kitchen with Seaborn.
“It was actually cooking that inspired me to make it,” he shared in a TikTok video. “Me and my wife always put on Norah Jones.”
She influenced Sheeran's break from music
Seaborn moved back to the U.K. in 2016 to be closer to Sheeran, and not long after, Sheeran took a short break from making music.
During an interview with Beats 1/Apple Music's Zane Lowe, the singer said, "We were basically like, 'Let's both quit our jobs and let's have a year of forming a tight bond and relationship. So we went traveling and spent every day for a year together."
Sheeran also spoke to PEOPLE exclusively about his break from music ahead of his Apple Music documentary Songwriter. "I ended the tour and I [realized] I hadn't ever really lived a life," he shared. "I haven't properly formed relationships with people so I needed to have a year off and spend it with friends and family and Cherry and actually become a human being."
During that time off, Seaborn and Sheeran traveled together to places like Fiji, Italy and Australia. "She hadn't really done anything either, so it was an opportunity for both of us to get to know each other and live life a little bit," the singer told PEOPLE of the couple's travels.
She cares about the environment
Seaborn is a manager at Deloitte. According to her LinkedIn profile, she currently works with the World Climate team for the company with "a focus on bringing people and organizations together to accelerate impactful solutions to combat climate change."
Her profile describes her as "an entrepreneur with a genuine concern for the health of the planet," and states that she graduated from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership with a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business.
During a podcast interview, Sheeran described Seaborn as being "at the top of her field" in her career.
Their first daughter's name has a special meaning
Sheeran has previously opened up about the meaning behind the name of his and Seaborn's first daughter, Lyra Antarctica.
During an appearance on the British morning show Lorraine, Sheeran said that the couple wanted to give her a unique name, explaining, "I realize some people think it's quite a strange name. But my wife's called Cherry, and she is the only Cherry that I've ever met and I think that she's the only Cherry that she's ever met and I quite like that."
He went on to say that her middle name, Antarctica, was inspired by a trip the couple took before Seaborn became pregnant. "When tour finished, I've basically toured every single continent but I've never been to Antarctica so that was always on our list," he said. "So we went down there in 2019 and it was just incredible. The most amazing place on earth."
She still makes time to support Sheeran's career
In addition to being a mom who works in a competitive field and plays field hockey recreationally, Seaborn also manages to make time to support Sheeran in his career.
Back in 2019, she starred alongside her husband in the music video for his single "Put It All on Me" featuring Ella Mai. In the video, the two were captured dancing in the kitchen of their London apartment alongside captions like, "Back in high school, Ed & Cherry were crushing hard. They made out at the castle on the hill." It was the first time the couple appeared in a music video together.
In a 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada, Sheeran revealed that Seaborn had picked "Bad Habits" to be the first single on his album =, and shared that when it comes to his music, his wife has a very "business-minded head."
"She hasn't been wrong," he said. "There's one song she told me to cut from the album and now the album makes more sense."
She had a tumor while pregnant with her second child
When announcing his new album, Subtract, Sheeran shared a series of events that changed his life in 2022, one of which involved his wife.
"My pregnant wife got told she had a tumour, with no route to treatment until after the birth," he said in a press release.
In March 2023, Sheeran talked in detail about Seaborn's diagnosis with Rolling Stone. He shared that doctors found the tumor when his wife was six months pregnant and that the couple considered welcoming their daughter Jupiter into the world early. Ultimately, Seaborn carried the baby to term and underwent a "successful surgery" to remove the tumor.
"There's nothing you can do about it. You feel so powerless," Sheeran told the outlet, recalling his mental health struggles at that time.
For the first time, Seaborn spoke publicly about her cancer diagnosis in Sheeran's Disney+ docuseries titled Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All.
"I got diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year which was a massive s—ter. It made me massively reflect on our mortality," the mom-of-two said, adding that she wouldn't normally agree to be on camera. "It made me think, 'Oh if I died, what's people's perception of me? What do you leave behind?' "
She's a very private person
After appearing in Sheeran's Disney+ docuseries, the "Shape of You" singer reiterated that Seaborn isn't looking to live her life in the public eye.
"Cherry sort of touches on it in the documentary, and we've talked about this a lot, whether we can close the door after we've opened it a little bit," Sheeran said on The Elvis Duran Morning Show. "She's always been a private person. She's never had a public Instagram. She's never done a red carpet with me. We've always been super private. Our private life is our private life."
He added that Seaborn is "trying to block out" the attention she's received since the series premiered.
"Everyone kind of respects that, I think, the door is closed again now. She's not someone that you're suddenly going to see pop up on a panel show here and doing this and doing that," Sheeran said.
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