Despite his fame and success, Ed Sheeran is not above doing a favour for a childhood friend.

In an interview with the UK Mirror, the 24-year-old musician explained the origins of his uber-successful love song Thinking Out Loud.

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Sheeran said the song was born out of a catch-up with childhood friend Amy Wadge, who came to his house when she was experiencing a rough patch financially.

“She was going through financial troubles about a year ago,” Sheeran said of Wadge, who is also a songwriter.

“She drove to my house – my album was nearly done – and she asked if I could put a song from when I was 17 on the deluxe album, so she could get a little bit of money and pay the mortgage and bills and stuff.

“While she was there, we wrote Thinking Out Loud. Now she never has to worry about money again.”

Thinking Out Loud hit number one on charts around the world when it was released last year and has been played more than half a billion times on Spotify. The music video has over 700 million views on YouTube.

Sheeran said he was content with his decision to give Wadge a songwriting credit.

“She’s got a family and two kids and stuff and every time I speak to her, she’s going on holiday. It’s really nice to see.

“It wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t come down from Wales to see me.”