Ed Sheeran reveals the reason he's never collaborated with Adele

Ed Sheeran has revealed why he has never duetted with Adele.

The 30-year-old pop superstar has explained that the reason he and the 'Easy On Me' hitmaker haven't hit the studio together before is that he wouldn't want to "mess with" her greatness.

Speaking on radio station WKTU’s 'Carolina with Greg T in the Morning Show', he said: "She doesn't really collab with anyone.

"Her thing is so good that like you don't want to mess with that."

The flame-haired star recalled getting to hang out with and witness the 33-year-old Grammy-winner play "tiny, tiny, tiny shows", as his cousin was the drummer of Adele's early tour buddy, Jack Penate.

The 'Shivers' singer - who dropped his chart-topping fifth studio album 'Equals' to acclaim last month - continued: "I've actually known her for about 15 years.

"She used to tour with a guy named Jack Peñate. My cousin was the house mate of Jack's drummer and she used to open up [for them] when she was younger. She used to sit on a stool with a bass guitar and sing, so I ended up seeing her at all these tiny, tiny, tiny shows."

Both artists went on to become global megastars, and Ed gushed that the 'When We Were Young' hitmaker - who releases her hotly-awaited comeback album, '30', on November 19 - is always "lovely" when they bump into each other.

The 'Overpass Grafitti' star added: "When she obviously went on and had success, I had success about three years later and we bumped into each other and it's really nice to have someone that you've known for that long.

"I mean I don't know her super, super well, but you know, we are both British and we have a fair bit in common so yeah, she is lovely."