"I landed wrong and it burst my eardrum so I have to go and get a graft."
Having just wrapped up the Australian leg of the The X World Tour in Sydney on Wednesday night (where he happily brought out Sir Elton John to duet Don't Go Breaking My Heart with him), Ed Sheeran has revealed that he's actually had a burst eardrum all this time and he'll be needing surgery in early 2016.
As Billboard reports, Sheeran told Nova that an injury in Spain earlier this year has been tailing him through all his arena shows.
"I have to have an operation in January on my ear because I stupidly jumped off a yacht really high up and smashed it.
"I landed wrong and it burst my eardrum so I have to go and get a graft, which means I’m not allowed to fly for a while, so it’s kind of good, it means I have to stay at home."
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The performer said he realised the extent of the injury when he got back in the water, rather than while he was on stage.
"It's the most painful thing having a hole in your eardrum and having water go in."
Sheeran has one show left to play in Auckland in his world tour, after which he'll be taking a back seat from touring for a while to recover from his surgery.