“You know the secret, which is that I’m actually fairly well-adjusted. And I so badly want to get married if only for my wife to just know in her heart, like, ‘John will know what to do.’ I just think that level of being relied on is the hottest thing in the world to me … You’re a full grown-up when this is your romantic fantasy.”

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Problem is, no such wife exists – but exploiting the 46-year-old’s self-confessed “reliability kink” could very well be the way into Mayer’s heart.

Which begs the question, does this aspiring homebody have a type? Here are just some of the most high profile women Mayer has been linked to over the years …

1. Jennifer Love Hewitt (2002)

Back in the early 2000s when Mayer dated the I Know What You Did Last Summer actress, it was rumoured for some time that the song “Your Body Is a Wonderland” was about Hewitt. Alas, Mayer later clarified that this wasn’t true and it was about his non-famous first girlfriend. Do we believe him?

2. Jessica Simpson (2006-2007)

Simpson and Mayer were romantically linked from 2006 to 2007. Although they reportedly stayed in touch after the break-up, things changed after Mayer’s tell-all Playboy interview went viral. “That girl is like crack cocaine to me,” Mayer said at the time, “Sexually it was crazy. That’s all I’ll say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm. … If you charged me US$10,000 to f*** you, I would start selling all my s*** just to keep f***ing you.’”

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Simpson later wrote in her memoir Open Book that she deleted his number soon after the interview was published. Too right.

3. Minka Kelly (2007)

The Roommate star briefly dated the singer in 2007, but this time “quietly split” according to media reports.

4. Jennifer Aniston (2008-2009)

After her divorce from Brad Pitt, the Friends alum was linked to the guitarist for about a year, per Us Weekly. In his interview with Playboy, Mayer claimed that he slept with “four or five” women while he was on a break from Aniston, before adding that he would “always be sorry that it didn’t last”. We wonder of those two statements may be linked.

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5. Taylor Swift (2009-2010)

Mayer famously dated Swift from 2009 to 2010, and it’s widely rumoured that the country superstar’s song “Dear John” is about their former romance, which was notable for its dramatic age difference: Swift was only 19, and Mayer was 32, when they began their relationship.

“Don’t you think 19 is too young to be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so?” Swift sung in the song. Ouch.

6. Katy Perry

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He has publicly said the song “Still Feel Like Your Man” is about Perry.

7. Kiernan Shipka (2022)

The singer was most recently linked to the Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress in 2022, after they were spotted together in February and November that year, states Popsugar. However, neither party responded to the rumours and they haven’t been spotted together again since 2023, per the source.

So is he single once again? Watch this space …