John Mellencamp Makes Candid Admission About His Relationship With Meg Ryan

John Mellencamp is giving the inside scoop on his relationship with ex-fiancée Meg Ryan. The “Hurts So Good” artist, 71, revealed he still has love for the When Harry Met Sally actress, 61, regardless of how their decade-long relationship came to an end in 2019, in a new interview with Esquire.

“I love Meg Ryan,” Mellencamp told the outlet in an interview published on June 13. “I went with her for 10 years. She doesn’t love me so much. She’s a great girl. I’m just a s-tty boyfriend.” The musician went on to recall the early days of their romance, saying that he and Ryan had “just come out of [their] shell” when they began dating. “We decided to do things on our own instead of having people do stuff for us,” he revealed. “We were so f—ing lost. We didn’t know how to do anything. I’ve never checked out of a hotel by myself.”

Mellencamp shared one hilariously clueless moment from the former couple’s attempt to buy groceries. “Her and I went to a grocery store, and they wanted our credit card, and we looked at each other and said, ‘Here it is,’ and they said, ‘No, you’ve got to put it in this thing,’ and we went, ‘Then what happens?’” he remembered. “We laughed at how stupid we are, so hard we cried. I think she’s learned how to do everything, and I’ve learned how to do nothing.”

Mellencamp and Ryan would date for three years before breaking up in 2014, with Mellencamp hinting that long-distance was the cause for their initial split. The “Jack & Diane” singer would go on to date Christie Brinkley from 2015 to 2016, and even told Howard Stern in 2017 that Ryan “hates me to death.” However, the couple eventually got back together, and the You’ve Got Mail star confirmed on social media in 2018 that they had gotten engaged. The following year, the couple called off their engagement. 

Both Mellencamp and Ryan have been married before. Ryan was previously married to Dennis Quaid from 1991 to 2001, and the two share son Jack Quaid. Mellencamp, meanwhile, has been married three times in the past, tying the knot with Priscilla Esterline in 1970 before their split in 1981. He then was married to Victoria Granucci from 1981 to 1989 and Elaine Irwin from 1992 to 2011. The singer-songwriter has five children, including Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp.