The Ugly Side Of Dating Katy Perry

Turning down the chance to date Katy Perry is the kind of decision that most warm-blooded males would spend a lifetime regretting, though — as her ex-partners have all come to learn in one way or another — trouble is never far away in paradise, especially when that paradise is LA. The Cali girl's hit-list is a who's who of Hollywood stars and prominent musicians, though after several failed relationship attempts (both before and after the breakdown of her marriage), Perry is currently single and ready to mingle in the way only she knows how. But is that good news for the eligible bachelors out there, or a reason to run and hide? From crazy grudges to outrageous flirting, this is the ugly side of dating Katy Perry.

Perry's marriage to British comedian-turned-actor Russell Brand was constantly marred by accusations of cheating, and although Brand has always insisted on his innocence, the singer's best friend claimed otherwise when he sent a tweet slamming Brand for being unfaithful. The year before their divorce was finalized, news emerged of Perry's apparent distrust of air-hostesses, brought on by her husband's fetish for them. Three of Brand's former squeezes worked for top airlines, and according to Daily Mail Perry would refuse to be served by female staff while crossing the Atlantic.

"When Katy flew on a Virgin flight to the UK, it seemed she preferred not to be served by females," an inside source confirmed. "She's jealous because she heard her husband once gave his phone number to a hostess on the back of a sick bag. On her last flight a female pilot came over to say hello, which was bearable, but she's not so keen on the hostesses."

A few years (and a few guys) later, Perry was spotted getting extremely close to Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom, with the two more-or-less confirmed as an item when paps snapped them paddleboarding naked together. The honeymoon period didn't last very long, however, and before long the green-eyed monster was rearing its ugly head. A friend of the actor told Radar Online that Bloom had always kept female friends and he wasn't about to change that, despite Perry's objections.

"Orlando never changed his ways with hanging out with other women," the whistleblower said. "He would still continue to hang out with his actor buddies and there were always a ton of sexy women around. Katy was constantly getting jealous about everything he did."

If you date Katy Perry and you don't end up marrying her, there's a good chance you'll end up the subject of one of her songs. In fact, Russell Brand did marry her and even he couldn't escape the wrath of her pen when the two parted ways. When the scorned singer was asked to open the 57th Grammy Awards, she decided to do so with a performance of her ballad "By The Grace of God," a song that reveals intimate details about Brand's part in the breakdown of their union. Compared to those before him, he got off easy.

Perry's history of dissing her exes in her music goes back to her high school days, when she used to crush on curly-haired quarterback Shane Lopes. Radar Online revealed exclusive details of a homecoming gig Perry put on at her former Santa Barbara school, during which she spotted the former footballer in the crowd. "Is that Shane Lopes?" Perry asked over the mic mid-set. "You were the most popular kid in my class! But you never wanted to date me, it was always Amanda Wayne. Oh yeah, you really chose right honey. What's up. What's up now, player. I'm going to dedicate this next one to Shane Lopes everyone." She then proceeded to sing "Ur So Gay."

As embarrassing as being roasted in front of your entire school year is, being publicly dissed is even worse when you are famous yourself. Gym Class Heroes front man Travie McCoy is another of Perry's exes to get a dressing down in her music, being the inspiration behind the song "Circle The Drain." The tune spoke of his struggle with drug addiction with lyrics like "You fall asleep during foreplay, cause the pills you take are more your forte." McCoy responded by saying he was "just stoked that she finally has a song with some substance on her record." Burn.

Just eight months after the collapse of her marriage Perry began seeing singer-songwriter John Mayer, with their secretive relationship exposed by an E! Online source who claimed the pair were having "sleepovers" together. "It is very private and they've been sneaking in and out. It has been going on for a while." They were on-and-off as a couple in the months that followed, and the reason for the constant breaks and early privacy became clear in an interview Perry later gave to Marie Claire.

"I took a break from my boyfriend, not one that I wanted," Perry told the women's mag (via Celebuzz). "It was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me. That is what led me to this new awakening, this realizing, if I don't do some self-love, I'm not going to be able to keep the love that I want. I still needed to deal with all of my ex-husband stuff. I hadn't."

Russell Brand isn't the only former lover that Perry has struggled to get over. The sexy songstress wrote the song "The One That Got Away" about one of her early loves, late Sons of Anarchy and OC actor Johnny Lewis. According to a source (via Jezebel), Perry was forced to leave the troubled young star for the good of her career after he started getting into trouble. Considering the circumstances of his untimely demise, it was the right move on Parry's part—Lewis allegedly murdered his elderly landlord and her cat before accidentally falling to his death.

Two years after their secret sleepovers began, Perry dumped Mayer. The news came from a camp insider who told E! Online that she was calling time on the relationship, with details later emerging in US Weekly (via Daily Mail) that she did so in order to concentrate on her career. What wasn't clear at this stage was just how serious she was. The couple had split up and reunited in the past, and most people were expecting this to be just another bump in the road, but as weeks turned to months it became clear that wasn't going to be the case.

The Sun reported that Perry was actively ignoring Mayer, with a source close to her revealing that several text messages and phone calls went unanswered. Perry's unnamed acquaintance confirmed earlier reports that her music was coming first from now on and Mayer would only slow her down. "She has a fantastic career, a ton of friends and is generally happy with things. She thinks that a relationship will complicate things right now."

Mayer isn't the first man Perry has shut out of her life after losing that spark, something that happened pretty early on with Florence and the Machine guitarist Robert Ackroyd. With the ink still wet on her divorce papers, Perry was spotted with the tattooed rocker at Coachella looking very much smitten, however poor Rob ended up being nothing but a rebound. A friend of Perry confirmed as much (via E! Online) when she said that Ackroyd was "just a distraction" for the 'Firework' singer.

Perry later came out in defence of her treatment of the strapping Florence guitarist during an insightful interview with USA Today, in which she reiterated the fact that there was never a label on whatever they had. "There are times I go out and meet people and flirt, but it's not really appropriate to have anything serious," she admitted. "My fairy tale has absolutely changed, I don't need the Prince Charming to have my own happy ending. I can make the happy ending myself." Despite her insistence that she was perfectly happy as a single lady, Perry continued to hone those flirting skills in the years ahead.

Rumors that she was taking advantage of Kristen Stewart's exposed affair and getting her claws into Robert Pattinson began to circulate after the two crashed a wedding rehearsal together, shocking loose-lipped guests. The pair were later spotted "heavily flirting" at the premiere for Pattinson's film The Rover, though, according to one Hollywood Life eyewitness, Perry left the after party because she "wasn't getting the attention from Rob that she thought she should be getting."

Perry's most recent flirtations have been directed at actor Ryan Phillippe according to OK!, who had a set of eyes inside Elton John's 70th birthday bash. Their source reported that Perry seemed very interested in the currently eligible bachelor. "She was totally giggling and at one point he had his hand on her knee. Then he took off but came later for more flirting."

Perry's beef with fellow pop icon Taylor Swift has accounted for a lot of column inches over the past few years, with the widely believed theory being that they started hating on each other after Perry stole a trio of dancers from Swift mid-tour. The "Shake It Off" singer seemingly confirmed these claims without actually naming Perry, admitting in an interview with Rolling Stone that it wasn't about a guy. "It had to do with business," Tay told the music mag. "She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me."

While Swift might believe this is where the problem started, according to a Page Six source, it goes back further than that. She and Perry's future squeeze John Mayer had a fling in 2010 that ended with Mayer dumping Swift, who fired back with her song "Dear John." The track, which included the lyrics "Don't you think 19's too young to be played by your dark twisted games," is said to have humiliated Mayer and rubbed Perry up the wrong way. "Perry started making digs at Taylor from then on," the insider said.

This isn't the only chip Perry has on her shoulder because of an ex-boyfriend, either. She was recently accused of attempting to sabotage Selena Gomez's relationship with YouTuber-turned-megastar The Weeknd, reportedly calling the musician for a flirt in revenge for Gomez spending time with Orlando Bloom. Gomez met the Pirates of the Caribbean star at the We Day California event in 2014, though Perry apparently begrudged their friendship. "Selena went nuts when she found out Katy called," an inside source told InTouch (via Hollywood Life). "She forbid The Weeknd from talking to her ever again."

One thing that we've learned about Perry in recent years is that she doesn't seem to do families, with one example of that being the breakdown of her brief relationship with Diplo. She had only been seeing the DJ for a month when she apparently "freaked out" about the idea of meeting his parents, according to an InTouch exclusive. Perry's u-turn came after Diplo's mother gave an interview to Radar Online in which she said the "California Gurls" singer would have to be "grilled by the mom" before the family would give their seal of approval.

Funny thing is, she doesn't seem to mind making her partners go through the same ordeal. Back when she and Orlando Bloom were still an item, she put him through not one, but two such awkward in-law events. The singer asked Bloom to attend the family's Thanksgiving celebration (the photos she uploaded to her Instagram reveal that she threw him in at the deep end—he's wearing a onesie and cradling a baby) and then brought him along on a family Christmas vacation.

Perry has also stated on numerous occasions that she doesn't have any intention of starting her own family in near future, which was a catalyst in the breakdown of her marriage to Brand. "I'm definitely not there yet, and I can't plan that far in advance," she told Marie Claire in 2013 (via Hollywood Life). "When I decide to have a family, I'll just want to be Mom for a little bit. [Brand] really wanted me to have children, and I knew I wasn't ready—I think it was a way of control. I think it was part of, If I have a kid, then I would have to sacrifice, I'd have to be home more."

How does Perry achieve all those weird and wonderful looks she's had over the years? According to SheKnows, it takes a whole lot of makeup and a whole lot of patience. "I'm a product whore," they quote Perry as saying. "I have a [beauty] regimen that spans an hour and a half, and nothing goes out of order." Eye shadow and lipstick are just the tip of the iceberg, however. When Perry's 2014 Prismatic World Tour hit Europe, details of her insane rider demands began to get leaked to the media, with British newspaper Daily Star getting the scoop on her backstage diva behavior.

The superstar (who has previously admitted she has her assistant take care of her dog so she doesn't have to pick up doo-doo) reportedly expected custom-made French lamps for her dressing room, a director's chair with her name on it and a member of staff there just to cut her fresh fruit and veg. "It's crazy, Katy always seems so down-to-earth when you see her on TV so we didn't expect her to have so many diva demands," an tour insider revealed (via RadarOnline). "We've also been told that staff mustn't speak to her, especially to ask for a photo or an autograph, because it angers her before the show."

So how does this kind of high-maintenance behavior affect the men in Perry's life? Well, they either have to deal with it or get lost, because she hasn't got the time to deal with anyone's issues but her own. "I'm not interested in taming anyone," she told Elle magazine (via Metro), "I'm pretty wild myself."