Ed Sheeran fan on filming him on her phone in chance encounter
Ed Sheeran has once again gone viral after he shared a delightful video of an unexpected fan interaction that's been hailed as 'the best video on the internet'.
The charming footage, which Ed posted to his Instagram, shows the 33 year old singer-songwriter serenading a jogger while cruising along a London canal.
The Shape of You hitmaker captioned the Instagram post: "Was filming a video on the canal today, played a request. If anyone knows the runner lemme know so we can have their POV video for the lols".
BBC Breakfast caught up with the jogger in question, teacher Nikki Atkins, who recounted her extraordinary encounter with the music icon. Nikki described the incident as 'so random' and 'surreal', especially since it was her first run in several months.
Initially, she heard music and spotted a 'ginger man' resembling Ed Sheeran on a boat, before realising she had indeed come face-to-face with the star himself, reports the Mirror.
Overwhelmed by the experience, Nikki shared: "Inside I was in complete turmoil and in my head, the time it took me to ask for a song was a really long time, I am so shocked that it was that rapid when I saw his video. I literally ran out onto the path, sort of waved at him, then he asked me for a song request.
"In my head, I was thinking: 'Oh my God, I need to think of a song now, it needs to not be a rubbish or basic one - not that he has any rubbish songs obviously!'" Nikki shared her process of selecting the 2014 hit Tenerife Sea after Ed offered to serenade her because it was one of her favourites since she saw the star perform when she was younger.
BBC Breakfast's Jon Kay was impressed by how swiftly Nikki managed to whip out her phone to capture Ed Sheeran's impromptu performance, an action that has sparked debate among Instagram fans. Nikki commented on the swift move: "I know, I feel like it almost looked like I planned that and I was ready for it. But genuinely in my head, I was thinking: 'Oh my God, he's actually singing to me, I'm not going to remember this if I don't film it! I'm going to black out and not know what's going on!'"
She further added about her reaction: "In that video, it looks so rapid that I pulled my phone out but I was just like: 'Oh my God, Ed Sheeran singing to me, I need to record this!'" Elsewhere, Nikki confessed feeling 'silly' after jogging on after the encounter and regretted not saying more to Ed. She wrapped up her experience with a heartfelt tribute to the singer on the show.
The overjoyed teacher gushed: "Thank you so much again, that was incredibly special. So beautiful and just really made my day, he was so lovely as well, so chill and nice, I felt so silly when I was running away at the end as everyone on the boat was watching me but they were all so lovely. Thank you so much."
Nikki admitted her friends and family didn't believe the moment was real at first, adding she's thinking of setting up a new Instagram following her overnight fame.
