John Mayer Addresses ‘Womanizer’ Reputation, Reveals Muse Behind ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’

The 45-year-old Grammy winner, who’s famously been linked to Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Love Hewitt, claimed his Hollywood “playboy” image is unfair during his appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

“I think, look, the elephant in the room is that I’m on a show that caters to women, and I have a couple of name plates on me, like ‘Lothario’ and ‘womanizer,’ and I think that is what that is,” he told host Alex Cooper.

“But I think people would be surprised to know that it was less me going like, you know the meme of the guy behind the tree? It was less this [Mayer rubs his hands together] and more like this [Mayer looks around confused]: Me? Because it was always set forth to me that like, that shouldn’t happen,” he added.

During his most formative years, the “Gravity” singer explained he was “made to believe” he had to “capitalize” on every opportunity when it came to anyone showing any interest as he believed the attention must have been a mistake.

Because of this, Mayer said he “felt very deeply when somebody liked me. Very deeply.”

“Every relationship I’ve ever been in was devoted to the idea that this could go the distance,” he admitted. “My entire life, today included, if you told me that I could have a great two months with someone but it would end on the first day of the third month, I would not be interested. I’ve always sought potential for a long-term relationship.”

Now that he’s been practicing sobriety for the past six years, John confessed his dating tendencies have changed.

“Dating is no longer a codified activity for me, it doesn’t exist in a kind of… it’s not patterned anymore,” he continued. “I don’t really date — I don’t think that I have to, to be quite honest. I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don’t have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mayer dispelled longtime rumors that his sophomore single “Your Body is a Wonderland” was written about ex-girlfriend Hewitt.

“That was about my first girlfriend,” he said, setting the record straight. “That was about the feeling, which I think was already sort of nostalgic… I was 21 when I wrote that song and I was nostalgic for being 16.”

When Cooper alluded to the idea of the single being about the “Can’t Hardly Wait” star he doubled down on his claims, “No, that’s one of those things where people just sort of formed that idea, it gets reinforced over the years, no, no, no,” he replied. “I had never met a celebrity when I wrote that song.”

The former couple briefly dated back in 2002. Five years following their split, Hewitt denied rumors she was the muse behind the hit song and joked, “John would have written, ‘Your body is a disaster'” in an interview with People.

She also stated to Entertainment Weekly at the time, “My body is far from a wonderland. My body is more like a pawnshop. There’s a lot of interesting things put together, and if you look closely you’d probably be excited, but at first glance, not so much.”