Katy Perry: Brief Split From John Mayer 'Was Like a Splash of Cold Water'

Although the 'Unconditionally' singer did not want to take a break, she admits that the brief split 'was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me.'

Photo credit: Daniel Deme/WENN

Katy Perry opens up about her divorce from Russell Brand and relationship with John Mayer in a January issue of Marie Claire. The "Roar" singer, who briefly split from the "Your Body Is a Wonderland" singer earlier this year and reunited during summer, talked about the separation in an interview with the magazine, explaining that it helped a lot with the relationship.

"I took a break from my boyfriend, not one that I wanted. It was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me," she explains. "That is what let 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. It's almost like if I kept talking about it, it would seem like I actually cared about it. I don't."

Perry cannot help gushing over her boyfriend in the interview for the spread. "He's just a fantastic partner. I've been a fan of his for such a long time. He's got a brilliant, brilliant mind. It's a rad, mature relationship," she says.

The 29-year-old singer, who admitted to U.K.'s Sunday Times in October that she spent two weeks in bed after the divorce in 2011, also talks about the hard times. "There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth of my marriage where I was like, 'OK. All right. I can't feel this. This is too intense right now.' I was, like, just eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that's it," the "Unconditionally" singer reveals.