Watching exes move on with their lives is not for the faint-hearted, and Katy Perry recently proved she is just like everyone else.
Perry took to social media on Tuesday, May 12, to post a snarky reaction to Josh Groban — the muse behind her song The One That Got Away — getting engaged to his girlfriend, Natalie McQueen.
The activity shocked Perry's fans, but they swiftly moved on to appreciating her sense of humor.
Highlights
- Katy Perry reacted to ex-boyfriend Josh Groban’s engagement by sharing a playful fake-crying video set to The One That Got Away.
- Groban revealed in 2018 that he had no idea he inspired a Katy Perry song.
- He proposed to his fiancée, Natalie McQueen, at the Disneyland Resort in California in April.
“Girl, I thought this was a fan account,” one commented.
Another added, “That’s the kind of crazy we all need.”
Katy Perry stood out with her congratulatory message to her ex, Josh Groban
Image credits: katyperry/Instagram
Perry dated Groban in 2009 and released The One That Got Away in 2010, expressing regret over their breakup.
The song’s lyrics feature Perry singing: “In another life, I would be your girl / We’d keep all our promises / Be us against the world.
“In another life / I would make you stay / So I don’t have to say you were the one that got away.”
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Perry shared a video of herself fake-crying while wearing a bathrobe as she read an article about Groban’s engagement.
The clip, which was set to the aforementioned heartbreak anthem, also showed Perry spilling a drink on herself.
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“Congrats,” she wrote in her caption, along with two champagne flute emojis.
Groban, during his 2018 appearance on What What Happens Live, said he was surprised when Perry shared during a livestream the previous year that he had inspired the hit number.
“I was not expecting that. That was a double-take and a spit of my coffee when I saw that,” he said.
“I’m very flattered by it,” he went on to share, before voicing that he was confused by Perry’s claim since her description of him was entirely made up.
“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?”
Image credits: katyperry/Instagram
Social media users who learned about their dating history after Perry’s recent video were equally confused.
“He was the one that got away?” one asked, while another added, “Now that’s a couple I had no idea about.”
Josh Groban shared the reason behind their split in the same 2018 interview
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“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 is the best,” he said.
He also turned down any talk of a reconciliation at the time, stating, “I think we are both very taken at the moment, but it’s very sweet.”
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Perry was dating English actor Orlando Bloom in 2018. They went on to get engaged the following year and welcomed a daughter named Daisy Dove in 2020.
The couple broke up in 2025, and the former has since been dating ex-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Image credits: joshgroban and nataliemcqueen/Instagram
Groban, for his part, was dating American actress and writer Schuyler Helford in 2018.
He began a relationship with McQueen, a British theater artist, in the summer of 2022.
Groban documented his proposal to McQueen on Instagram
Image credits: joshgroban and nataliemcqueen/Instagram
Groban popped the question to McQueen on April 20 in front of Snow White’s wishing well at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
Sharing photos from the proposal on Instagram the next day, the singer thanked Disney Weddings for their help in planning the surprise.
“MY BEST FRIEND SAID YES!!! Thank you @disneyweddings for helping make the best day of our lives (so far) so magical?” he wrote.
Groban has a history with Disney after recording the song Evermore for the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Groban and McQueen’s first public outing since their engagement came on May 6, when the former accepted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
McQueen praised her fiancé on her Instagram Stories, sharing a picture from the ceremony and writing, “My star and his star. I’m beyond proud of you.”
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are still going strong
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Image credits: katyperry/Instagram
Perry and Trudeau sparked dating rumors in July 2025 after being spotted taking a walk in Montreal’s Mount Royal Park. They were then captured eating at Le Violon.
Later the same month, Trudeau was seen at Perry’s Lifetimes Tour stop.
The pair’s relationship continued to build, and they were photographed kissing in October while on the singer’s yacht off the coast of Santa Barbara, California.
On October 30, a source told People that Trudeau goes the "extra mile" for Perry despite his busy schedule.
The following day, Perry declined a fan’s request to marry him from the stage.
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In the interaction, which was shared on TikTok, Perry explained that a man in the crowd was holding a ring. “No, I am dating someone else, for crying out loud,” she said in response.
Trudeau made his relationship with Perry Instagram official on December 4 by resharing a picture of them posted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“Great to see you @kishida230. Katy and I were so glad to have the chance to sit down with you,” he captioned the post.
Perry was not far behind in taking the same step as Trudeau. She shared a carousel of her and Trudeau’s time in Japan on Instagram on December 6.
The pair made headlines for their Coachella date in April.
"Celebrities are turning emotional damage into content faster than influencers now," a netizen remarked
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