Ellie Goulding suffered ‘a lot of trauma’ after she was accused of cheating on Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran says he has forgiven his ex, believed to be Ellie Goulding. Photo / AP

Ellie Goulding suffered “a lot of trauma” after she was falsely accused of cheating on Ed Sheeran with One Direction’s Niall Horan.

The 36-year-old pop star has opened up about the rumours which surfaced back in 2014 following the release of Sheeran’s song Don’t which featured lyrics about an unfaithful partner and gossip suggested it was Goulding - but she’s adamant she never dated the star and the speculation was incredibly hurtful.

Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora attend the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty Images

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday newspaper’s You magazine, she explained: “It’s fascinating how many people are interested in that. It happened nine years ago. You know, completely honestly, it caused me a huge amount of … stress is not the word. It caused me a lot of trauma, actually.”

She added: “‘How old were we, 23? I envy the fact that my friends just spent their 20s having flings and one-night stands and what every 20-something goes through in private. But every single thing I did was written about. I was made to feel like a terrible person and I really struggled with that because I know I’m not.”

Goulding has rarely commented on the gossip but she recently hinted at the hurt she suffered by commenting on a video posted on TikTok which showed her dancing to Harry Styles’ song As It Was.

A follower wrote on the post: “Can’t believe u cheated on Ed with Niall but slay fr [sic]” and Goulding responded: “False!!!! But also slay.”

Ellie Goulding is adamant she never dated Ed Sheeran and revealed the speculation was incredibly hurtful. Photo / Getty Images

She has now admitted she wrote that comment after a few drinks, saying: “I think I was really drunk when I wrote that, yeah.” Goulding also insisted she has talked it all through with Ed and they are on good terms.

She concluded: “Of course [we have talked about it]! It is in the past and we’re friends. We’re adults.”