Burn! Nearly a decade later, Ellie Goulding responded to the rumors that she cheated on Ed Sheeran with Niall Horan — and set the record straight once and for all.
After Goulding, 36, posted a TikTok video of herself dancing to the Harry Styles song “As It Was” on Friday, December 30, a fan took to the comments section to accuse the British singer of cheating on Sheeran, 31, with the former One Direction singer, 29, in 2013.
“Can’t believe u cheated on Ed with Niall but slay fr,” the fan said. Goulding quickly shut down the claims, writing, “False!!!! But also slay.”
The “Goodness Gracious” songstress and “Perfect” artist first sparked dating speculation when they were spotted holding hands while seated in the audience together at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Following the event, Goulding denied that the twosome were anything more than good pals. “I love that holding hands with my friends means we’re an item,” she tweeted shortly after rumors of a romance began. “In that case I am in many relationships. Lover not a hater. #whatthef*ck.”
“I mean, normal people don’t hold hands if they’re just friends,” the “Run” singer said during an interview with Washington radio station Click 98.9. “It was going on. And now it’s not.”
Goulding and Horan, meanwhile, fueled relationship rumors that August when The Mirror reported that they were seen packing on the PDA at the V Festival in England.
One year later, Sheeran released the single “Don’t,” in which he sings about being cheated on by a fellow singer — leading many fans to speculate the track referred to himself, Goulding and Horan.
“And I never saw him as a threat until you disappeared with him to have sex,” the lyrics state. “It’s not like we were both on tour / We were staying on the same f–king hotel floor. And I wasn’t looking for a promise or commitment / But it was never just fun, and I thought you were different.”
Goulding previously reflected on the rumored relationships with Horan and Sheeran in 2015, insisting that she was never officially dating the “Everything Has Changed” crooner.
“I did go on a few dates with Niall, but I was never in a relationship with Ed,” Goulding told Elle U.K. at the time. “I have absolutely no idea where that came from and why it was turned into such a big thing.”
Goulding added that while she is willing to talk about her dating history, she finds it annoying that her relationships are often focused on.
“I find it so frustrating that female musicians are constantly defined by the men they have or haven’t dated. It’s something I’ve talked about with Taylor a lot,” she said, referring to Taylor Swift, who is also friends with Sheeran. “She definitely feels that. She gets bothered by it. It’s like, you can be a great artist, you can write great songs, but the thing that everyone is going to talk about is some relationship they think you have had or not had. It’s definitely something we both think happens to female artists over male artists.”
After moving on with Dougie Poynter, Goulding eventually tied the knot with Casper Jopling in August 2019 and the pair welcomed their first child, son Arthur Ever Winter, less than two years later. Sheeran, for his part, confirmed he wed Cherry Seaborn in July 2019. Horan, meanwhile, has since been linked to various A-list women in Hollywood including Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Barbara Palvin and Hailee Steinfeld, whom he dated on and off for a year in 2018
