Let’s hear it for Ed and Cherry and first love

It’s often said that first love exercises some sort of mystical power over us. I’m not sure I agree, given that my first love didn’t even know I existed. Neither did my second, to be honest, which is probably why I spent the next couple of decades being fascinated by emotionally unavailable men before realising it was a waste of time.

Happily, Ed Sheeran does not fall into that category. Instead, he has done the eminently lovely thing of proposing to his first girlfriend, Cherry Seaborn. Despite being a global superstar and having made £40 million in 2015 alone, according to Forbes magazine, Sheeran is now engaged to a girl he was at schoolwith.

I like everything about this story. I like the fact that Seaborn is resolutely un-starry and did molecular biology at Durham and played hockey and now has a proper job at Deloitte.

I like the fact that the couple have two cats called Dorito (after the crisps) and Calippo (after the ice lolly). I like that they are rumoured to have turned down £3 million from US Weekly to cover the nuptials. Most of all, I like the fact that, for all his success and wealth, Sheeran has realised that the most valuable thing in life is real love – and that you have to hang on to it once you’ve found it.