Ed Sheeran lands acting gig

British singer Ed Sheeran has landed a role in a "gruesome" new TV show.

Sheeran has told British newspaper The Sun that he is making an appearance in a friend's small screen project which is set to be screened later this summer (15).

The singer says, "I can't say too much about it because the pilot just got picked up, which is good, but it's a TV show. It's a medieval TV show and it's really, really dark. It's gruesome and it's going to be fine because my friend wrote it... He had a musician in his last show and I said, 'Oh did he audition for that? And he said 'No, but I just thought he would be good in it.' So I said, 'Can you put me in your show next?'"

The Thinking Out Loud singer also reveals he previously auditioned for a part in a British TV show, and if he had got the job, he was going to quit singing to pursue acting.

He explains, "There was a part I auditioned for on an ITV show and it was music and acting. And I thought this would be fun and I got down to the final six. I said to myself if I got this, no more music just acting and if I didn't, no more acting, just music and I didn't. Then I just did music and it all went well."