As Katy Perry ventured into space with an all-female crew aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin spacecraft, her fiance Orlando Bloom cheered her on from earth. Perhaps he was even a little envious. Perry says the pair connected because they are both “super adventurous”, and Bloom has “no fear threshold”. Perry got together with Bloom in 2016, following a string of high profile relationships. Perry has spoken candidly about her dating history, from her divorce from Russell Brand to who was her best lover. Here is her relationship timeline in full.
Johnny Lewis (2005–2006)
Before she kissed a girl and liked it, Katy was dating actor Johnny Lewis, best known for his roles in the O.C. and Sons of Anarchy. Their romance began in 2005, back when Perry was still finding her feet in the music industry. The relationship was stormy and short-lived, ending in 2006. Lewis had a history of drug and alcohol issues and struggled with mental health issues, and he died in 2012 after falling from a rooftop in Los Angeles. A toxicology report found that he was sober at the time and an inquest ruled that his death was accidental. Perry was said to be “devastated” by the news.
Travie McCoy (2006–2009)
Katy and Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy were the rockstar couple of MySpace-era dreams. They dated on and off from 2006 to late 2008. She even starred in his “Cupid’s Chokehold” video and McCoy described their relationship as “the most amazing thing ever”. But when her career exploded with “I Kissed a Girl,” things got rocky. McCoy struggled with substance abuse, which grew worse with Perry’s rise to fame. "She wasn't stupid... She knew when I was f**ked up. I chose drugs over our relationship... As things started taking off for her the more I started to doubt my role in her life,” he told MTV’s Behind the Music in 2012. In the same interview, McCoy revealed Perry broke up with him via email. “Someone that you are ready to spend the rest of your life with sends you a f**king email just s**ting on your whole parade. It destroyed me."
Russell Brand (2009–2011)
Perry met British comedian Russell Brand at the 2009 MTV VMAs, and things got serious fast. They married in a lavish Hindu ceremony in India in October 2010, complete with elephants, camels, a Bollywood-style banquet and celebrity guests like P. Diddy and David Walliams. But the fairytale fell apart just as quickly. In an interview with Vogue in 2013, Perry said that Brand could not deal with her independence. “He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.”
Brand filed for divorce via text in December 2011. “He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him,” Perry told Vogue. “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.” She said that she felt a lot of responsibility for the breakdown of their marriage until she found out “the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day.”
John Mayer (2012–2015)
Perry and crooner John Mayer were Hollywood’s on-again, off-again couple from 2012 to 2015. They collaborated musically on the song Who You Love. “I was madly in love with him. I still am madly in love with him,” Perry told Vogue in 2013. “All I can say about that relationship is that he’s got a beautiful mind,” she added. “Beautiful mind, tortured soul. I do have to figure out why I am attracted to these broken birds.”
Orlando Bloom (2016–Present)
Perry and Orlando Bloom’s spark began over burgers at the Golden Globes in January 2016. He stole one off of my table and I was like, ‘excuse me’,” she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast in 2024. The pair broke up for 10 months in 2017, during which time Perry sat down with James Corden for an interview. During a game of spill your guts or fill your guts, where celebrities must answer awkward questions or eat a disgusting dish, Perry was asked to rank musician Diplo, Bloom and John Mayer in order from best to worst in bed. “They’re all amazing lovers,” Perry clarified, before ranking Diplo third, who she had a brief fling with in 2014. Orlando Bloom came second, while Perry said that John Mayer took the top spot.
Despite his position in the silver spot, Perry and Bloom rekindled their romance. “I was going through a really tough time in 2018 and he was not shook. And I showed him the worst of me,” Perry said. The pair got engaged on Valentine’s Day 2019 (with that flower-shaped ring). In August 2020, they welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, and have been loved-up ever since.
“I chose someone like Orlando because there is a lot more equal energy there and he wasn’t intimidated by the power,” Perry said on Call Her Daddy. “We do a lot of couple’s therapy and we want to evolve,” she added.
