Ed Sheeran reveals lion tattoo was a hoax as he posts photo of his bare chest on Instagram

Fans react with relief at what we have dubbed '#NonExistentLionTattooGate'

Ed Sheeran caused outrage among his fanbase last month by getting a huge, multicoloured lion tattooed on his chest. Some thought it was ugly, some found it distasteful, and some considered it a touching tribute to Cecil, the slain lion from Zimbabwe.

But the singer has revealed that the whole thing was a massive hoax, Instagramming his bare chest to his 4.7 million followers with the caption “Was only joking about the lion”.

The inking was reportedly to commemorate Sheeran's sold-out shows at Wembley.

Some fans are celebrating the news after finding the tattoo a bit ‘full on’. Feedback was so negative earlier this month that Sheeran spoke out, saying his opinion was "the only one that matters" after Tom from Keane even voiced his disapproval.

A photo posted by @teddysphotos on Aug 26, 2015 at 4:31am PDT

Now that the news has been debunked, though, it begs the question: is nothing sacred?

Maybe One Direction aren't really breaking up. Maybe Jon Stewart didn't retire. Maybe Donald Trump running for president is just a massive joke. We should be permenantly suspicious in the wake of #NonExistentLionTattooGate.

With Sheeran’s lion tattoo completely fabricated, it’s hard to know how to separate the truth from lies.

While Tom from Keane has not yet responded to the new information, several conspiracy theorists have their suspicions that this whole ‘tattoo prank’ may itself be a prank.

More information as we get it.