Ed Sheeran admits he 'almost killed' Elton John while shooting Merry Christmas music video

Ed Sheeran claims he "almost killed" his friend Elton John while shooting the music video for their joint song Merry Christmas.

Speaking on Apple Music's Zane Lowe Show, Sheeran, 30, recalled how he very nearly fatally injured John, 74, with a heavy bell as the pair filmed the festive duet track.

"Oh, mate. I almost killed him with a bell on the video," Sheeran confessed during the interview.

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"I'm dressed up as sort of sexy Santa Claus and I kick a present, but the present had a big metal bell on top of it."

He continued: "I showed him the footage of it today because we slowed it down and the bell flew past his head and would've cracked him in the head.

"Oh my God, the horror that went through my body when it was flying through the air."

In the clip, Sheeran and John parody several famous Christmas music videos including Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You and Last Christmas by Wham!

John plays his iconic piano throughout the video as the Bad Habits singer performs in various festive-themed scenes.

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The song is currently cruising to number one in the UK singles chart and is one of three holiday songs John and Sheeran wrote together.

The track, released last week, marks Sheeran's first Christmas record, while John is known for his 1990 Christmas song Step into Christmas.

Speaking to Jimmy Fallon about the duo's new festive song, Sheeran said he had long been opposed to writing a Christmas jingle before teaming up with John.

"I've always been quite against it [a Christmas song]. Not that I don't like Christmas, I love Christmas, but in terms of doing a Christmas song, you need to chuck the kitchen sink at it," he said.

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He also revealed his shock at realising there wasn't already a song simply called Merry Christmas, adding: "It baffled me. It's kind of like this glitch in a video game where no one's thought to…"

In an interview with Smooth FM, Sheeran gushed about his sweet friendship with John, describing the Rocket Man singer as his "mentor" who helped him during his early career.

"From the beginning, he's been a mentor, from the beginning he's been like 'anytime you want to call me, anytime you need advice...'" Sheeran said.

"American radio wouldn't play me, so he flew over there to play a private gig for them, to make sure that they play me. And the Grammys wouldn't put me on, so he made sure he played the Grammys with me to have me on."