Ed Sheeran took his year-long hiatus in order to "properly form a relationship" with his now-fiancée Cherry Seaborn.
The 27-year-old singer songwriter took a year out of the spotlight following the end of his 'X' world tour in December 2015, and has now said part of the reason he stepped away was to make sure he could enjoy quality life with his partner Cherry - whom he recently alluded to having married already - and his family.
Ed said: "I ended the tour and I [realized] I hadn't ever really lived a life. It's quite weird being a touring 'celebrity.' People assume you're living the best f***ing life in the world, but you don't really get to live any life because you work the whole time.
"I was like 'F**k, I'm 25, I left school early and went straight into touring.' 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 his time off, he travelled the world with his 26-year-old partner, and says the pair used the time to "get to know each other" better.
The 'Perfect' hitmaker added: "Fiji was pretty cool. We did a road trip of Australia that was great. Fourth of July, that was fun coming to America. Lots of things! We did a road trip of Italy.
"Cherry went to university and then she went to do her Masters at Duke in North Carolina, and went straight into working on Wall Street in New York. 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."
Ed and Cherry's adventures are documented in the star's new Apple Music feature 'Songwriter', and the 'Thinking Out Loud' singer admitted he originally had reservations about including his future wife.
Speaking to People magazine, he said: "She's awesome, but I was against having her in the documentary just because I like to keep my personal life private. But I think it's such a split second of it and it does just capture what she's like. It's nice for people to see a little bit of that!"
Meanwhile, Ed recently hinted he may have already tied the knot with Cherry, after admitting he "never" does anything "too public anyway", so fans wouldn't necessarily know when the pair have married.
Tagged in Ed Sheeran