Jessica Simpson Recalls Getting Back Together With John Mayer "Close to 9 Times"

Jessica Simpson and John Mayer's relationship was far from seamless.

By Samantha Schnurr Feb 03, 2020 3:38 PMTags
John Mayer, Jessica SimpsonMatt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

It seems gravity kept pulling John Mayer and Jessica Simpson back together. 

While it's been more than a decade since the two performers were a Hollywood item, their names are back together in the headlines thanks to the fashion mogul's soon-to-be released memoir, Open Book. In the book, available Tuesday, Simpson has tackled very personal topics, including her history of diet pill use, what led her to quit drinking and the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. 

The star also addressed her relationships with celebrity men, including Mayer, who famously likened her to "sexual napalm" in a 2010 Playboy interview. "Again and again, he told me he was obsessed with me, sexually and emotionally," Simpson wrote in her memoir, via People.

However, the nature of their relationship took a toll on the pop star. "I constantly worried that I wasn't smart enough for him," she shared in her book, noting she sometimes had someone check the spelling and grammar of her texts to him. "He was so clever and treated conversation like a friendly competition that he had to win."

As a result of feeling unsure of herself, "My anxiety would spike and I would pour another drink," she wrote. "It was the start of me relying on alcohol to mask my nerves."

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Jessica Simpson's Star-Studded Dating History

As she put it to Hoda Kotb in a Today interview, "We were great at intimacy. We were great at loving each other. That was easy, but the relationship was very complex."

"It was always on again, off again, on again, off again," Simpson recalled. "I went back close to nine times."

While it sounds like the star has indeed been an open book in her book, Simpson confirmed to The New York Times that she didn't tell Mayer about it. 

"I don't think he'll be shocked," she told the newspaper. "He knows these stories." 

Simpson's interview with Kotb airs tomorrow on NBC's Today

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)