John Mayer Shares His New Dating Philosophy at ‘SmartLess Live’ Podcast Taping: ‘Vulnerability Is the Sh–‘

John Mayer knows exactly what you think about his high-profile dating history, and he’s ready to prove you wrong.

During a SiriusXM-presented live recording of SmartLess — the popular podcast hosted by actors and friends Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes — at Hollywood’s Avalon nightclub on Thursday night, the singer/songwriter served as the night’s “mystery guest” and was an open book about his love life, confirming that he’s currently single and “a catch.”

“I’m older now,” he said. “It’s been a very long time since I had my own situation. I stay inside the house. Aren’t I a good boy, America? I’m not dating anybody!”

After Mayer said he’s a big fan of the “skip the wait” upgrade on the dating app Raya (shoot your shot, ladies), Bateman asked whether the musician is looking for something different now than he was 10 years ago. “Let me ask you: What’s right and what’s wrong for a girlfriend vs. a wife vs. somebody that you might have a child with?” Bateman asked.

“They’re one in the same,” Mayer said. “I would not date someone if it didn’t have the upward mobility of becoming a marriage.”

You can watch a preview clip of the conversation here:

Elsewhere in the conversation, Mayer said the biggest lesson he’s learned in relationships over the years is to not hide behind sarcasm and to leave himself open to potential pain.

“I think that younger people need to get a head start on being more vulnerable,” the 47-year-old artist told the trio of hosts. “Being sarcastically invulnerable and apathetic is a really good healing mechanism to get over the past breakup. … There’s a fear that there’s a generation of … people, men and women, who have decided to come into relationships in a very inflexible, sarcastic [headspace]. Vulnerability is the sh–. Leave yourself so vulnerable that you could die if someone said the wrong thing to you, and just die 1,000 times.”

Mayer has had a number of high-profile relationships over the years, including with Katy Perry, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift.

A lot of topics were covered during the live podcast recording, including Mayer’s experience trying his hand at stand-up comedy, his innate obsession with correct grammar and punctuation, and what musicians he would put in his dream band, dead or alive. “Alive,” Mayer deadpanned, before (literally) singing the praises of Eddie Vedder with a little impromptu take on Pearl Jam’s “Daughter.” He also offered up a medley of three of his songs: “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” followed by Hayes’ personal favorite “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye,” and finally a sing-along of his breakthrough hit “No Such Thing.”

The full episode will premiere July 24 on SiriusXM Stars (channel 109) and then become available on demand in the SiriusXM app and to SiriusXM Podcasts+ subscribers in Apple Podcasts. On July 31, it will be released widely wherever podcasts are available.

Mayer has his own SiriusXM station, Life With John Mayer, which debuted in November 2023 and airs on channel 14.