West Yorkshire-born singer–songwriter Ed Sheeran, 23, is the next celebrity to appear on BBC2’s Top Gear.
   Sheeran will be the long-running show’s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car in the next episode to air in the UK on Sunday, January 25.
   Sheeran, who does not have a driving licence, piloted the Vauxhall Astra automatic around Dunsfold Park in Surrey for the episode earlier this week.
   He had claimed earlier that he had put off taking his licence due to his fear of fast cars.
   The BBC has just released a photograph of Sheeran with the show’s ‘tamed racing driver’, the Stig.
   The time to beat on the Top Gear celebrity leaderboard with the Astra is 1 minute, 44·7 seconds, recorded by American actor Aaron Paul, who drove a manual version of the car. Jack Whitehall, who like Sheeran drove the automatic, recorded 1 minute, 54·5 seconds.