Ed Sheeran’s bond with Taylor Swift has been so strong that she once affectionately referred to him as her “second brother.”

However, recent developments suggest that their friendship might be under some tension. According to the Daily Mail, their relationship has faced challenges following the timing of Swift’s latest album release, which closely followed Sheeran’s own new album debut.

Despite their enduring camaraderie, Sheeran, at 34, was reportedly unaware of when Swift’s album, “The Life Of A Showgirl,” would drop, even as it soared to the top of the charts.

Back in May, the acclaimed British musician had announced the release of his eighth studio album, “Play,” set for September 12.

But in a surprising move, Swift revealed in August that her new album would be launched on October 3, just a few weeks after Sheeran’s release.

An insider from the music industry remarked, “Ed is meticulous about his album launch plans. He gave a four-month advance notice for his release, but then Taylor announced hers just two weeks later.”

‘It left his team scrabbling to get as much attention before hers dropped. He was very much put out and understandably peeved.’

‘It is not the first time that Taylor has done something like this. She’s got form.’

Initially, Sheeran’s album rose to the No1 during the week of its release, but it has now fallen out of the top ten as Swift’s new album has taken the top spot.

Last year, the Shake It Off singer was criticised for ‘chart blocking’ when she released new album variants, exclusive to the UK, the week Charli xcx released her Brat album. 

Despite their close friendship, Sheeran was left in the dark about the release date of Swift’s new album The Life Of A Showgirl

The pair have been friends for over a decade after collaborating on their 2012 single Everything Has Changed

It comes as Swift revealed that she didn’t tell her British ‘bestie’ about her engagement to American footballer Travis Kelce, with Sheeran instead finding out on Instagram

Swift’s move blocked Charli from the top spot of the albums chart, thereby maintaining her own at No1 spot for her The Tortured Poets Department album.

She also saw off Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft album, which threatened Swift’s run at the top of the US charts. As Eilish looked close to taking the top spot, Swift released three new digital album download variants and a new CD version of her album. 

Each variant contained a new song exclusive only to that version of the album, encouraging devoted fans to buy every new version and keep Swift at the top of the charts.

Sheeran has previously spoken about how he times his album releases. He said in 2017: ‘Everyone I was scared of releasing albums around me released them all last year – people like Beyonce and The Weeknd and Bruno Mars. 

‘Taylor [Swift] isn’t going to be releasing until probably the end of this year – Christmas is the smartest time to release because that’s when everyone buys records.’

The pair have been friends for over a decade after collaborating on their 2012 single Everything Has Changed, and Sheeran later supported her on tour. 

The duo later lived in Nashville where they cemented their friendships with Sheeran saying ‘we literally spent almost every single day with her for about six months’.

A source said they had last met at Selena Gomez’s California wedding on September 27, where they both gave speeches, but the topic of album release dates was not discussed.

It comes as Swift revealed that she didn’t tell her British ‘bestie’ about her engagement to American footballer Travis Kelce, with Sheeran instead finding out on Instagram.

She admitted she ‘forgot to call Ed’ to tell him the happy news before she told her 282 million Instagram followers.

She said: ‘This is one of my absolute favourite people on the planet and then when the news came out I was like, ‘Oh my god! We forgot to call Ed!’

Ed Sheeran’s representatives were contacted for comment.