Ed Sheeran admits South Park ginger episode 'ruined his life'

South Park isn’t afraid to, let’s say, push the boundaries with some of its jokes, with musician Ed Sheeran confessing that the ginger episode ‘ruined his life’.

Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park centres around the now iconic Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick. While the show’s humour often reflects what’s going on in the world, addressing a variety of topical issues, it can also resort to more … rudimentary tactics. Think back to silly playground insults. Back in November of 2005, during the show’s ninth season, one particular episode focused almost entirely on those with ginger (or auburn) hair.

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As reported by our friends at LADbible, Sheeran confessed that while he was a “big fan” of the series, the ginger-centric episode “f**king ruined” his life. Titled ‘Ginger Kids’, the episode saw Eric announce that he’d been struck down by “gingervitis” after he was given a makeover by Stan and Kyle in his sleep. This involved hair dye, bleach, and henna.

Eric initially thinks of his new auburn hair do as a “curse” after he’s ridiculed by the other kids at school. It’s a happy ending though as Eric ends up uniting a bunch of redheaded allies to put a stop to the teasing and take over the world. The episode is packed with stereotypes, likening redheads to “vampires”, claiming that they have to stay out of the sun.

Whilst appearing on Slam Radio, Sheeran said of the episode, “Having red hair in England was always a thing that people took the p**s out of you for. But it was never something in America. People never knew what a ginger was in America. That episode of South Park f**king ruined my life. I was going to America and everyone was like, ‘I love your hair dude.’ "And I was like, ‘Oh my God, people like my hair?’ And then I remember that episode coming out and that was just it worldwide for the rest of my life." Poor ol’ Ed.