Nelly Furtado Says Dating Is ‘So Fun’ After Being ‘Locked Down in Relationships’ in Her 20s and 30s: ‘I Love It’

Like a bird, Nelly Furtado is spreading her wings — in the world of dating!

The “I’m Like a Bird” singer, 45, opened up about dating in her 40s while on the Nov. 13 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast.

“It’s a very fun time in my life because I didn’t really get to be single in my 20s, right? I was pretty locked down in relationships,” the mom of three said. “I was in long-term relationships for much of my 20s and 30s. So only recently, I think in the last few years, I’ve become single again.”

“It’s so fun dating. I love it,” Furtado told host Alex Cooper.

But while dating is fun right now, the “All Good Things (Come to an End)” singer admitted that going through breakups was still difficult. 

“Oh my god. I need a sip of water,” Furtado said when Cooper asked what made her most recent breakup painful. “I had finally kind of arrived at that, you know, yellow brick road, and it was gonna be that for me, and then it turned out that it wasn’t, and that’s why it hit so hard. You know what I mean? Because it was the first time it had felt, you know, that right.” 

Furtado previously was in relationships with composer Jasper Gahunia, with whom she shares daughter Nevis, 21; audio engineer Demacio Castellon and, most recently, rapper Jerry, with whom she shares a daughter, 6, and son, 5 (whose names she keeps private). 

“And it's that idea when the certainty just kind of gets pulled out from under you, or the rug gets pulled out and you go, ‘Oh my god. I have a lot to learn still. I have a lot to learn about me,’ and you might have had a horrible experience, and for sure, I went through a very difficult time where I think I accepted some things that I would never accept now, in terms of the way you’re treated,” she continued. 

During an interview with PEOPLE published in September, Furtado emphasized just how fun embracing the perks of single life can be.

“I’ve been dating — it’s been fun. Just for fun. Just for fun. Just for pleasure and fun,” she said. “Just kind of getting out there and honoring that part of myself, I guess, that kind of likes to have a good time and fun.”

Furtado then explained that it’s important to find balance while dating.

“And just have fun with my friends, just kind of keep it light, get out there, enjoy myself once in a while. Just, yeah. Again, balance. You have to have balance,” she added. “And I think you have to know what's going to give you balance. And that's again from the self-awareness and self-love.”

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Amid exploring the dating pool this year, the Grammy winner released her seventh studio album, titled 7, which in part addressed “the biggest heartbreak of my life,” referring to her breakup with Jerry (born Gerard Damien Long), 34.

For this new album, Furtado collaborated with her 21-year-old daughter, Nevis, who co-wrote four songs, provided background vocals on two tracks and helped mix, sequence and package the overall project.

“I had a lot on my heart and mind that I had to exorcise. Because I hadn’t been on a stage in five years, I really hadn’t sung my heart out in a long time,” she told PEOPLE. “I was on the mic getting this stuff out, just emotionally vomiting. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, like, ‘Why does this feel so physiological?’ ” 

“It’s such a beautiful thing to put your emotions into a song,” Furtado added. “It’s a healing process.”