TikToker Luke Gittins Shivers cover 'better than Ed Sheeran'

Luke Gittins has idolised Ed Sheeran since he was a young boy

A musician who did a Tik Tok duet with Ed Sheeran in lockdown said the singer told him he "sang it better".

Luke Gittins began recording covers and releasing them on Tik Tok during the pandemic when he could not play gigs.

The 21-year-old's version of Shivers was seen by Sheeran, who sang along to the cover of his hit song.

Mr Gittins, from Wiltshire, said: "He said that I sang it better than him...which was absolutely unbelievable."

He took up the guitar at the age of eight but only began playing seriously when he performed a cover of Lego House from Sheeran's first album when he was 11.

He has since written 10 songs he hopes to give to Sheeran

Mr Gittins, from Chippenham, told BBC West it was the "first ever performance I ever did and afterwards I was thinking 'Yes this is what I want to do'".

"All these years later I'm still chasing it," he added.

The guitar teacher began recording covers of famous artists and uploading them to YouTube and TikTok when lockdown closed down live venues.

He said he was also noticed by stars including Elton John, Alicia Keys and the Jonas Brothers.

But he always wanted to catch the eye of Sheeran.

Sheeran commented on three of the covers that Luke Gittins performed

On his 21st birthday last June, Sheeran's account shared his cover version of Bad Habits on Instagram stories.

Then, last October, Sheeran went one better and recorded himself reacting to a cover of Shivers that Mr Gittins had recorded and uploaded to TikTok.

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Mr Gittins said: "Maybe Ed or someone in his team found it... and he did a TikTok duet with it."

"I can technically say that we sang online. He filmed his reaction and captioned the video 'love this guy' - so I know to some extent he enjoys the music.

"He's such a big artist I never thought I'd get his attention. He is the reason I picked up a guitar and started writing music."

The unsigned musician said the recognition had spurred him on and he had since written 10 songs that he hoped to one day share with Sheeran.