Ed Sheeran's cameo role in Game Of Thrones has been revealed after the singer appeared in the first episode of the new season of the cult drama.

It was leaked Ed would appear on the show back in March (17), but few people expected him to show up in season seven's premiere, which aired on Sunday night (16Jul17).

He appeared as a minstrel in a scene with real-life superfan Maisie Williams, whose character Arya Stark stopped him as she was riding through a forest.

Arya overheard Ed's character singing and said, "It’s a pretty song, I’ve never heard it before," prompting his woodland crooner to respond, "It’s a new one."

Fans had mixed responses to Ed's appearance in the episode, taking to Twitter to share their opinions.

"Hot take: Ed Sheeran making an appearance on Game of Thrones was the worst thing I've ever seen on the show in it's history," one wrote, while another tweeted, "Nothing takes me out of a fantasy world like a random Ed Sheeran appearance #gameofthrones".

Another poked fun at the lines in the episode, tweeting: "Arya: That's a pretty song. I've never heard it before. Ed Sheeran: It's new. Buy my album ÷ on iTunes #GameOfThrones #GoTS7.”

Ed revealed during an interview with The Hits Radio earlier this year that he'd be singing for Maisie's Arya, explaining: "I don't really know what I'm allowed to say... I sing a song and then she goes, 'Oh, that's a nice song,' and I go, 'It's a new one', and then there's other lines."

Meanwhile, all the excitement surrounding the new season of the show created big problems for cable channel HBO's website bosses as fans overloaded the HBO Now site during the East Coast premiere while attempting to stream the drama.

The website was back online during the final half of the show, but many devotees complained about buffering and slow uploads, with some even tweeting photos of their frozen screens.