Ed Sheeran receives call from COVID quarantine enforcement while live on podcast
Watch: Ed Sheeran takes call from Home Office during interview
Ed Sheeran was forced to take a call from the COVID self-isolation compliance service during an interview to confirm he was obeying quarantine rules.
The Bad Habits singer recently travelled to the US to promote his new single and was required to isolate at home for 10 days on his return as the country is on the amber list.
Sheeran, 30, was chatting to Harry Potter stars Oliver and James Phelps for their podcast Normal Not Normal when he received a phone call from the NHS Test and Trace service to confirm he was abiding by the rules.
The singer's phone rang in the middle of the interview and he scrambled to answer it stuttering: "Ah! Wait, wait wait! Government, government, government!"
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As he picked up the bright yellow mobile he quickly apologised to the Phelps twins, "Sorry", before politely answering the call saying, "Hello."
While the sound on the video podcast has been cut up and the footage sped up Sheeran can be seen taking the call on speakerphone and rolling his eyes at the Harry Potter actors, who starred as Weasley twins Fred and George in the movie franchise while they smirked.
He ended the call saying, "Thanks man, you too."
Sheeran then said, "Sorry about that guys - what was your question?"
His manager Stuart Camp, who was also on the video call sniggered: "Everyone was holding their breath, feeling really naughty during that. It was like being called by a teacher."
James said: "I just had visions of when you're all hiding round your mate's house and their mum calls them and says, 'Are you on your own?'"
Sheeran was conducting the video from a round wooden room, thought to be the large treehouse he has built in the grounds of his Suffolk estate.
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Government rules for quarantining after returning from an 'amber' listed country state that you may be permitted to leave early if you pay for a private test under the Test and Release scheme.
The Afterglow singer became a father last year when he and wife Cherry Seaborn welcomed daughter Lyra.
The couple were seen in public last week when they attended England's Euro 20 match against Germany - watching from the Royal Box alongside Prince William, Ellie Goulding and David Beckham.