"I have an email address that I email - that actually changes every week," he said during an interview about working with her on a duet.

The reporter, from Entertainment Tonight, then suggested that Beyonce was good at "hiding" and he agreed.

He laughed during the interview but his comment has fuelled media speculation about Beyonce's commitment to privacy.

"It's kind of what I aspire to be, I think," he added.

The BBC has contacted representatives for both Ed Sheeran and Beyonce for comment.

One major talent agency said it was not common for high-profile stars to adopt this approach.

Surrey University cyber-security expert Prof Alan Woodward said that while burner email addresses - temporary accounts - were easy to set up, they tended to be blocked by mainstream email providers.

"It is highly unlikely a celeb would change their email that often, as it plays havoc with trying to stay connected," he said.

"More usual is to have a set of email addresses which are used for a variety of purposes including friends and family, business, finance, password resets et cetera.

"You then have some in your set which are highly disposable and you would use those for interactions that may go awry with people."

Even with a team of people responding to emails on their behalf, it would be difficult to keep up with a weekly change of address, Prof Woodward said.

"You never can tell what celebs will do, but if she is doing it I can think of simpler ways of solving her problem," he said.

He advised using secure message platforms such as Signal or WhatsApp, rather than email.