Katy Perry may have sung about kissing a girl and liking it, but her real-life dating history is giving A-list roster. From rock stars and Hollywood actors to a world-famous DJ, this California girl has had her fair share of headline-making romances.
Before Katy got engaged to and eventually split from Orlando Bloom, or began dating Justin Trudeau, our girl’s love life included some seriously famous faces. Her relationship history spans everything from her early romance with Johnny Lewis and her long-running relationship with Travie McCoy to her whirlwind marriage to Russell Brand. She later had an on-and-off romance with John Mayer, a brief fling with DJ Diplo, and a connection with singer Josh Groban.
So, who else has Katy dated? From the men who stole her heart to the ones who inspired heartbreak songs, here’s Katy Perry’s complete dating history, including her ex-boyfriends, ex-husband and most talked-about romances.
FYI: Other than her official romances, this list also contains guys that Katy was *rumored* to be dating.
Who is Katy Perry Dating Now?
As of 2026, Katy Perry is dating Justin Trudeau, the former Prime Minister of Canada. The pair went public with their relationship in 2025 after Katy’s split from Orlando Bloom. More on that below!
Katy Perry’s List of Boyfriends Over the Years
Jump to:
- Justin York
- Matt Thiessen
- Johnny Lewis
- Travie McCoy
- Mika
- Josh Groban
- James Valentine
- Russell Brand
- Robert Pattinson
- Baptiste Giabiconi
- Robert Ackroyd
- John Mayer
- Riff Raff
- Jared Leto
- Diplo
- Orlando Bloom
- Justin Trudeau
Ex: Justin York
Who is He? Guitarist
Dated In: 2002–2005
Before Katy Perry was a global pop superstar, she was still known by her birth name, Katy Hudson, and was dating within the Christian music scene. Justin York, guitarist and songwriter and the older brother of Paramore’s Taylor York, is widely listed as one of Katy’s earliest boyfriends.
There isn’t much reliable information about their romance, including exactly how they met or why they broke up. Neither has publicly given a detailed account of the split, so rather than inventing a dramatic reason, this one is best filed under early-2000s teenage puppy love that simply ran its course.
Ex: Matt Thiessen
Who is He? Guitarist and singer
Dated In: 2003–2005
Katy’s next relationship was with Matt Thiessen, frontman and guitarist of Christian rock band Relient K. The pair dated for a couple of years while Katy was still building her career, and she was even spotted stage-diving at Relient K shows during their relationship.
Their romance also became part of Katy’s early songwriting era, with Thiessen working on her track, Long Shot. And unlike some of Katy’s later breakups, there doesn’t seem to be any major bad blood here. In a 2012 interview with Songfacts, Thiessen confirmed the relationship saying, “I used to date her back in the day for a couple of years. But we’re still really good friends.”
Ex: Johnny Lewis
Who is He? Actor
Dated In: 2005–2006
Katy dated actor Johnny Lewis in 2005. One of the few public sightings reported at the time was the pair holding hands at Coachella, where Katy reportedly referred to him as her boyfriend.
The relationship reportedly ended in 2006, with later accounts saying Katy recognized that Lewis was dealing with serious problems and ultimately chose to distance herself. Following Lewis’ death in 2012, a source told Us Weekly that she had “to separate from him,” adding that “he was in trouble then and she couldn’t help him.” The same source said Katy remembered the relationship fondly and that “they had good times.”
Lewis died in Los Angeles in 2012 from suicide following the killing of his landlord. Reports at the time said Katy was “devastated” by the news. While some outlets speculated that songs including The One That Got Away were inspired by Lewis, Katy later clarified that it was actually about Josh Groban.
Ex: Travie McCoy
Who is He? Gym Class Heroes frontman
Dated In: 2006/2007–2008/2009
Katy’s relationship with Travie McCoy was one of her most serious romances. The pair were together as Katy’s career was taking off, but Travie was battling prescription-drug addiction and later admitted that his struggles played a role in their breakup.
“I chose drugs over our relationship,” he told Louder, adding that he sometimes felt like a “stepping ladder” as Katy’s fame grew. Katy ultimately ended things via email, which absolutely destroyed him. “Someone that you are ready to spend the rest of your life with sends you a fu*king email… It destroyed me,” he recalled.
Travie later said he had no grudges and acknowledged that Katy had supported him through some of his darkest moments.
Rumored Ex: Mika
Who is He? Singer and songwriter
Dated In: 2008 — rumored
Katy and Mika sparked romance rumors in 2008 after the pair were photographed getting extremely playful together at London’s Serpentine Gallery Summer Party. The most iconic photo? Mika giving Katy a piggyback ride as they left the event…
Neither singer publicly confirmed that they were actually dating and there’s also no solid evidence that Katy’s 2019 song Small Talk was about Mika — that was just fan and tabloid speculation.
Ex: Josh Groban
Who is He? Singer and songwriter
Dated In: 2009
Katy and Josh Groban had a brief romance in 2009, although the two were notoriously private about what exactly went down. Years later, Groban described their relationship as having “skated on the line of dating,” while Katy gave fans the ultimate plot twist by revealing in 2017 that Josh was actually the inspiration behind The One That Got Away.
When Josh later appeared on Watch What Happens Live in 2018, he confirmed they had dated and explained, “We were both very private and we realized we were better as friends.” As for the song? Josh hilariously pointed out that he never owned the Mustang mentioned in the lyrics and didn’t have a matching tattoo either.
Rumored Ex: James Valentine
Who is He? Maroon 5 guitarist
Dated In: 2009
Katy was linked to James Valentine in 2009, but the relationship was never documented by the pair themselves. Musician Tim Jones of Truth & Salvage Co., said Katy was dating Valentine when she ended up contributing a lyric to the band’s song Old Piano.
According to Jones, Katy was at Valentine’s house when he was working on the song. Jones later said, “She was dating my friend, James Valentine,” making this one of those random Katy Perry dating-history receipts that’s somehow also a songwriting story.
Ex-Husband: Russell Brand
Who is He? Comedian, actor and TV star
Dated In: 2009–2011
And then came Russell Brand: Arguably Katy’s most dramatic relationship and one of the most scandalous moments of Katy’s career. The pair first crossed paths while Katy was filming a cameo for Get Him to the Greek, then reconnected at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. They quickly went from flirting to engagement and married in a lavish Hindu ceremony in India in October 2010. But just 14 months later, Brand filed for divorce.
Katy later revealed to Vogue that Brand told her he was divorcing her via text message on December 31, 2011: “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me.” She also said he struggled with her being “the boss” on tour and described the dynamic as controlling.
Brand later gave a somewhat different perspective, saying their marriage ended amid the intense pressures of fame and that he still felt “very warm” toward Katy.
Rumored Ex: Robert Pattinson
Who is He? Actor
Dated In: 2012
We bet you didn’t know Robert Pattinson was on Katy’s boyfriend list — well kinda. This one had Katy Cats speculating in 2012 after the pair were spotted hanging out and having dinner together in L.A. Romance rumors went into overdrive, as Pattinson had just split from Kristen Stewart. But Katy was quick to shut the speculation down.
In a 2013 interview with Elle UK [via She Knows], she revealed that she had even messaged Kristen to reassure her, writing: “I would never disrespect you. I’m not that person.” Katy explained that she and Pattinson were simply friends and said the media had blown their friendship out of proportion.
Rumored Ex: Baptiste Giabiconi
Who is He? Model
Dated In: 2012
Following her split from Russell Brand, Katy began dating French supermodel Baptiste Giabiconi, and this one certainly looked convincing at first. The pair met at Paris Fashion Week in 2012 and were photographed sitting together at Chanel’s show before being spotted around Paris, including at the Gare du Nord station and sharing selfies together.
Baptiste’s representative told the New York Post, “It’s new, they’re feeling it out, but they’re spending a lot of time together” (via British Vogue). The French model was clearly very into Katy, having previously told Dansk magazine, “If I could make her divorce her husband, I’d marry her.”
Ex: Robert Ackroyd
Who is He? Guitarist, Florence + the Machine
Dated In: 2012
Katy’s post-Russell Brand dating era was giving rockstar rebound, because shortly after her divorce she was linked to Florence + the Machine guitarist Robert Ackroyd. The pair made things pretty obvious at Coachella in April 2012, where they were photographed sharing a kiss at the festival.
Their fling was short-lived, however. By May, Us Weekly reported that they had split, with a source insisting, “It wasn’t that serious.” They remained on speaking terms, though, and were spotted together again backstage at Katy’s London show soon afterwards.
Ex: John Mayer
Who is He? Singer and songwriter
Dated In: 2012–2014, on and off
Enter John Mayer, one of Katy’s most high-profile exes… and a name already familiar in pop culture thanks to his past relationship with Taylor Swift, which later became part of the tension surrounding Taylor and Katy’s feud.
Katy and John first started dating in summer 2012, broke up, reunited later that year, split again in early 2013 and continued their on-again, off-again romance before finally calling it quits in 2014. They were photographed on dates, vacations and red carpets, and even released their romantic duet Who You Love.
Katy was very open about her feelings, telling W in 2013, “I actually am dating my crush. I had a crush on him for a long time.” After their final split, she told Cosmopolitan [via ABC News], “I have a lot of respect for [John] still” and added, “There’s no bad blood.” And yes, in 2017, she famously named Mayer as her best lover when James Corden forced her to rank her famous exes.
Rumored Ex: Riff Raff
Who is He? Rapper
Dated In: 2014
In March 2014, Riff Raff announced that he was “kinda dating” Katy after the pair went on a date involving sushi, bowling and a Skrillex show. Then came the ultimate denim moment: Katy and Riff Raff attended the 2014 MTV VMAs together wearing matching all-denim outfits. Katy herself played into the dating rumors, tweeting that they had been “dating” and “took it to da studio to make dat real magic.”
But the whole thing increasingly looked like a playful publicity stunt surrounding their collaboration on This Is How We Do, rather than a serious romance.
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Rumored Ex: Jared Leto
Who is He? Singer and actor
Dated In: 2014
After Katy’s split from John Mayer, Jared Leto was briefly thrown into the dating rumor mill alongside her in 2014. The two were both at Coachella that April, but there’s no solid evidence that they actually hooked up or went on a date.
Ex: Diplo
Who is He? DJ and producer
Dated In: 2014
Katy’s 2014 romance with Diplo was brief, with the pair first getting close after meeting at Coachella. Their relationship lasted several months, but Katy later made it very clear that she didn’t consider the fling particularly memorable. During her 2017 Witness World Wide livestream, James Corden asked Katy to rank three of her famous exes: John Mayer, Orlando Bloom and Diplo. She placed Diplo last, with Mayer taking the top spot.
Diplo responded on Twitter with the savage line: “I don’t even remember having s*x.” Katy and Diplo never publicly revealed exactly why they split, but their relationship clearly wasn’t destined for the long haul.
Ex-Fiancé: Orlando Bloom
Who is He? Actor
Dated In: 2016–2025
Katy’s relationship with Orlando Bloom became her longest and most serious romance yet. The pair first crossed paths at a Golden Globes after-party in 2016, began dating soon afterwards and quickly became one of Hollywood’s biggest couples. They briefly split in 2017 before reconciling, with Orlando proposing on Valentine’s Day in 2019. They welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove, in August 2020 and spent the following years balancing family life with their careers.
But after nearly a decade together, the couple confirmed in 2025 that they had ended their engagement and shifted their relationship toward co-parenting. Sources said tension had been building around the reception to Katy’s album 143 and reviews of her Lifetimes tour, although neither star publicly blamed one specific issue for the breakup. Orlando later described their post-split relationship simply as “nothing but love.”
Current Boyfriend: Justin Trudeau
Who is He? Former Prime Minister of Canada
Dating Since: 2025–Present
And now for Katy’s very unexpected new chapter: Justin Trudeau. The best-selling artist and Canada’s former prime minister first sparked romance rumors in July 2025, shortly after Katy’s split from Orlando. They were spotted together in Montreal, where they had dinner at Le Violon after walking around Mount Royal.
Trudeau later attended Katy’s Montreal concert, and the pair continued seeing each other as their connection developed. By December 2025, Katy had effectively made things Instagram official with photos of the two together in Japan.
EXTRA READING:
Who is Justin Trudeau?
The relationship has since become very much official-official. Katy and Justin made their red-carpet debut together at the 2026 Tribeca Festival premiere of Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour – Live from Paris, where they looked seriously loved-up. During the event, Katy described herself as “very in love” and called Trudeau “the love of my life,” saying that having him as an anchor made her feel “really whole.”
From Russell Brand and John Mayer to Orlando Bloom and now Justin Trudeau, Katy Perry’s dating history has had plenty of highs and lows. Which romance surprised you the most? Join the conversation below!
This post was originally published in March 2020, and was updated in 2026 to reflect Katy’s most current relationship.
There are sections in this article that were co-written by Joanna Zambas.
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