Ed Sheeran to appear on The Voice US as 'mega mentor'

Ed Sheeran will be a "mega mentor" on The Voice US, following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Snoop Dogg

Ed Sheeran will appear on US talent show The Voice as a "mega mentor".

The singer-songwriter from Suffolk will join judges Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and John Legend as he helps contestants prepare for the knockout rounds.

Sheeran will help acts with their song choices in episodes which will be broadcast from 25 October.

His fourth studio album, =, is set to be released days after his debut on the show, on 29 October.

In August, Sheeran said: "I've been through love, loss, new life, grief and everything in between during the whole period of writing it, and I feel like it's really a coming of age record."

Sheeran said Sir Elton John called him on Christmas Day and asked him to collaborate on a festive single

The star is also set to release a Christmas single this year with Sir Elton John.

In an interview with NPO Radio 2 in the Netherlands, Sheeran revealed Elton called him on Christmas Day and asked him to collaborate on a festive record.

• Ed Sheeran named in Ipswich Town squad list

• Ed Sheeran says daughter 'not my biggest fan'

• Sheeran's art and Lego fetches £400k for charities

"There's something coming in December, and it's great," he said.

"Elton rung me on Christmas Day to say Merry Christmas... and he said, 'Step into Christmas is number six in the charts and I'm 74 and I'm still having [expletive] chart hits. This is great, I wanna do another Christmas song - will you do it with me?'

"It's gonna come, just me and him and it's great," Sheeran said.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail]