ED SHEERAN was the centre of attention on Friday’s afternoon session at the PDC World Darts Championship.
The ‘Shape of You’ singer – sat alongside former Capital DJ and now BBC One Show host Roman Kemp – was seen downing pints and engaging in some friendly banter with an especially raucous Ally Pally crowd.
Ipswich megafan and club sponsor Sheeran donned a baseball cap to try to cover his appearance, but was quickly recognised by fellow darts goers.
He joined in with a crowd rendition of Robbie Williams‘ ‘Angels’ before some of the light-hearted banter turned on Sheeran himself.
With Ipswich currently sitting in the Premier League relegation zone, the Ally Pally crowd sung ‘Ipswich get battered, everywhere they go’.
Sheeran responded in perfect fashion, giving punters a middle-finger salute and downing his drink.
He soon built up a stack of cups after hordes of fans chanted ‘have you ever seen Sheeran down a pint’, and showed his class by posing with a number of fans chasing a photo opportunity.
Stephen Bunting, the headline act of the afternoon session, reckons he’s landed himself an A-list fan club of Sheeran and Prince Harry.
The Bullet won through his opening World Championship clash against Kai Gotthardt 3-1 at the Ally Pally on Friday.
He joked: “I had a few bad habits in that game to be fair didn’t I!
“It’s amazing, I’m a massive fan of his as well even though he supports Ipswich Town.
“I’m surprised he’s not come in to disrupt the interview to be honest.
“It would have been really nice to meet him. I’m a massive fan of his music on my Spotify and playlist. I’ve got some of his songs flying through my head.
“I think my lad (Toby) had a few moments with him, he’ll tell me on the way home.
“We need high profile people coming to watch our sport. It really does spur us on, especially when you’re on stage and you know.
“My manager even alluded to it earlier. He told me that Ed was here and I was so shellshocked. But it must be something about gingers.
“Prince Harry has been here before and now Ed Sheeran as well.”
