Ed Sheeran Reveals He 'Was Only Joking' About His Massive Lion Tattoo; Shares Instagram Photo Of His Bare Chest

Ed Sheeran is ready to come clean about his massive lion tattoo. The "Thinking Out Loud" singer shocked the world on Aug. 11 when he unveiled a colorful new chest tattoo. Fans were quick to express their dislike of his latest ink -- but it's Sheeran, 24, who's having the last laugh.

Early Wednesday morning Sheeran took to Instagram to show off his bare chest -- sans tattoo. As was reported on E! News, he admitted to fans in that caption that he “was only joking” about having gotten the lion permanently inked on his body. He did not, however, explain why he decided to play the elaborate prank.

Sheeran’s tattoo may have been phony, but the award-winning artist went to great lengths to fool the masses. At the time, he told BBC he had gotten the tattoo in celebration of selling out three consecutive shows at Wembley Stadium in London, England. He said he originally planned to get the floor plan of the arena tattooed on his body, but ended up going a different direction. Sheeran wasn’t the only one in on the prank either.

He enlisted the help of esteemed tattoo artist Kevin Paul, whom he claimed had done the tattoo, to speak to the media about his new art. Paul told E! the tattoo took “about six hours” and had another six hours to go before it was complete. He even went into detail about how painful the process was for Sheeran, telling the publication that he nearly tapped out in the last hour.

Neither Sheeran nor his tattoo artist have addressed the tattoo fake-out any further. Paul has, however, engaged with several Twitter users who commented on their prank.