Ed Sheeran Explains Why He Gave Sam Smith a '6-Foot-2' Penis Statue Gift, Says They Asked for It

Ed Sheeran is setting the record straight regarding the phallic artwork he recently gave Sam Smith as a gift.

Days after Smith, 30, spoke about receiving a 6-foot tall 'marble penis' statue that weighs 'two tons' from Sheeran, 31, as an unexpected gift, the "2Step" singer-songwriter explained the backstory in an interview on Thursday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Before he could explain Smith's statue, Sheeran recalled the first time he gave a similarly NSFW gift to another musician. "Elton John has been involved in my career from the get-go, and he buys me weird gifts," he said. "Just, like, odd gifts, like sexual sort of objects."

The "Thinking Out Loud" Grammy winner said he learned that John was "very proud" to have received a pair of "diamond-encrusted" penis rings from Eminem for his wedding to David Furnish. "Whenever I'm around there, they're like, 'Check it out. Aren't these cool?' And I'm like, 'I need to one-up this. I need to get Elton a present that's going to make him go, '[Gasp] Oh my God,'" said Sheeran.

Mike Marsland/WireImage; Karwai Tang/WireImage Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith

RELATED: Sam Smith Says Ed Sheeran Gifted Them a 6-Foot Tall 'Marble Penis' Statue That Weighs 'Two Tons'

He joked that he "got this huge, flopping, droopy thing" for John — one of multiple penis statues, as he detailed another as a "big, erect, vein-y one."

"I gave it to him for his birthday, and Elton was over the moon about it. And then it got out in the press that I had done it," continued Sheeran. "I would be doing interviews, and people would be like, 'Well, can I have one?'"

Smith then apparently asked for a phallic statue of their own while recording at a studio near Sheeran's house. "Sam saw one of them and said, 'Can I have one?' And I said, 'What would you like?'" said the "Bad Habits" musician. "And Sam said, 'One the size of me. One that's 6-foot-2.' So there we go. That's it."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show last week, Smith told a story about receiving the oversized gift from Sheeran.

"Oh my God... It's actually wild. I thought it was a joke, but it's a six-foot-two marble penis," they told host Kelly Clarkson, who asked for details about the suggestive present. "It's two tons, and I'm gonna have to get it craned into my house." (Sheeran told Stephen Colbert the statue actually weighs two-and-a-half tons.)

Regarding Smith's plans for the statue, they said, "Well, I want to turn it into a fountain, which I think will be hard to do."