Before Ed Sheeran was the famed singer he is today, he auditioned for Britannia High in 2008 where he was ruthlessly rejected by dance expert Arlene Phillips.
In the unearthed video, the Shape Of You hitmaker is unrecognisable – besides his flaming red hair – as the 18 year old wears a green hoodie with baggy blue jeans for the try out.
In a bid to impress the judges, he first plays the guitar while singing before then showcasing his best dance moves to the tune of Justin Timberlake’s hit Like I Love You in an awkward segment of the clip.
While now-29 year old Ed’s singing abilities blew the judges away as they called it “what Britannia High is all about,” his dancing left Arlene, 77, unimpressed.
“Not even an option,” she said, disappointed. “Eventually we are going to have to find some people who can dance because they can’t all not dance.”
She had previously said: “We are looking for triple threats; they’ve got to be able to sing, dance, and act. They’ve got to be stars.”
The show crew later ask him how he thought the audition went, to which he responded: “I’m just trying to really get it in my head… I think I messed up as I got kicked in the face by accident.”
Ed came out with his first album just three years later by Asylum Records and Atlantic Records, which was considered his commercial breakthrough with hit songs The A Team and Lego House.
After making millions, the star is also thriving in his personal life as he announced his wife Cherry Seaborn gave birth to their first child together in September 2020.
He took to his Instagram feed to make the happy announcement by sharing a sweet photo of a blue, green and brown blanket with a pair of tiny black socks sitting on top.
In the caption, the musician explained that he and his 28 year old other half, who was reportedly been granted unlimited maternity leave from work, are “completely in love” with their baby girl.
“Ello! A quick message from me as I have some personal news that I wanted to share with you…” he started.
The songwriter then revealed the name they’ve chosen to give their little daughter as he continued: “Last week, with the help of an amazing delivery team, Cherry gave birth to our beautiful and healthy daughter – Lyra Antarctica Seaborn Sheeran.
“We are completely in love with her. Both mum and baby are doing amazing and we are on cloud nine over here. We hope that you can respect our privacy at this time.”
Ed, who shares a £19.8million home with Cherry and his newborn, added: “Lots of love and I’ll see you when it’s time to come back, Ed x”.