Josh Groban Says He 'Was Not Expecting' Katy Perry to Call Him 'the One That Got Away'

Katy Perry may have called Josh Groban “the one that got away,” but that came as a surprise to him!

The 37-year-old “You Raise Me Up” singer appeared on Thursday’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where a caller asked him about his relationship to Perry.

News of their pairing first made headlines back in 2009. It resurfaced back in June 2017 during Perry’s weekend-long livestream, when she was asked to rank her lovers from best to worst.

That’s when Perry, 33, called Groban “the one that got away.” She also allegedly penned a 2010 song about him, fittingly called, “The One That Got Away.”

Groban saw none of that coming. “I was not expecting that,” he told Cohen. “That was a double take and a spit of my coffee when I saw that.

“It’s very sweet of her to say that,” he added. “I’m very flattered by it. But I was very surprised by it too.”

As flattered as he was, Groban said he has doubts Perry’s song is about him. “I listened to the lyrics of the song. And I’m like, ‘I never owned a Mustang. I don’t have a tattoo. Are you sure that’s about me?’ ” he mused.

And as for his relationship with Perry, Groban said it didn’t last long, but that they have remained in one another’s lives as friends.

“We were both very private and we realized we were better as friends and we’ve been very, very good friends to this day. She’s the best,” he said. “I think we’re both very taken at the moment, but it’s very sweet.”

Both are in other relationships right now, Groban dating Schuyler Helford, 27, and Perry with Orlando Bloom, 41.

Elsewhere on WWHL, Groban talked about artists he’d love to work with one day.

“My childhood duet dream is Björk. I’ve always wanted to work with Björk because I think she’s so interesting and she always does re-orchestrations,” he said, adding, “I’d love to sing with Adele one day too. She’d be awesome. And I love working with instrumentalists. I’d love to work with Yo-Yo Ma or something like that.”

There was one duet Groban did for his new album that checked off a major box for Groban: Andrea Bocelli.

Groban had stood-in for Bocelli back in 1999 at a Grammy rehearsal, when he was just 16-years-old. Video of that rehearsal later went viral, catapulting Groban into stardom.

“He had a flight that was missed,” Groban explained on WWHL. “David Foster, who discovered me basically, had heard my tape from a voice teacher and he called me out of class to sing with Céline Dion until Andrea got there. So I first met Andrea as a terrified kid who had no idea what he was doing and had no idea I would be signing a record deal.”

“So 20 years later, to write a song and record a song with Andrea, was really full-circle and special for me,” Groban continued.

Speaking of Foster, Groban said that he recently spent time with him and his new fianceé Katharine McPee — and “got to witness their wonderful chemistry first hand.”

“[I] couldn’t be happier for them,” Groban said. “Obviously I’ve known David my entire life and everybody’s always wanted David to find his true love and be happy. Katharine is a wonderful, wonderful person, so sweet and so talented… She is an old soul.”

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen airs Sunday-Thursdays (11 p.m. ET) on Bravo.