Example claims Ed Sheeran's dad threatened to punch him backstage at a gig.

The 37-year-old music star - whose real name is Elliot Gleave - has revealed he upset John Sheeran when he started playing up backstage, but he managed to escape the situation with a warning instead of a black eye.

He recalled: ''Ed's dad used to be a boxer. I've met him loads over the years.

''I was being a bit cocky backstage once and he went, 'Elliot, stand there'. And he put his fist up to my nose. He did like a full whack and stopped his fist like a millimetre from my nose, then he gave me a hug.

''It was his way of saying, 'Don't be a lippy little t**t.'''

Example is currently poised to release his seventh album.

And the London-born star has already started thinking about his rider during his next tour, admitting he's looking forward to eating lots of crisps whilst he's on the road.

He told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: ''The riders used to be crazy when it was me and the band. We'd have six or seven crew.

''But now it's just six of us doing this tour. So the rider just has Monster Munch on it.

''It'll just say 24 packs of Monster Munch. Flamin' Hot are my top flavour, Roast Beef second and Pickled Onion third.''

Meanwhile, Niall Horan recently revealed Ed is aiming to write ''one big song'' during quarantine.

The pop star spoke to the 'Shape of You' hitmaker on the phone and Ed told him he's set himself the challenge to write one song per day, with the hope of having at least one track that has the potential to become a hit when the coronavirus lockdown is over.

Niall shared: ''I was speaking to Ed Sheeran and I was asking him what he was doing and was he writing any bits.

''And he was like, 'Yeah, I've kind of like set myself a challenge. I'm going to try and write song a day before lunch.'

''And he said, 'If I can come out with one big song out of this quarantine period, then I've won.'''