John Mellencamp knows he’s not the easiest person to be around — which is why he’s shocked that his new girlfriend, Kristin Kehrberg, has “never” been mad at him.
The 71-year-old musician spent the better part of two hours debating government and politics with host Bill Maher on the Sunday, August 27, episode of the “Club Random With Bill Maher” podcast. The spirited discussion prompted Mellencamp to reveal that his partner of seven months has “never even got angry” at him because “she has a really high threshold for tolerance.”
“You’ve been around me, what, 20 minutes?” Mellencamp quipped to Maher, 67.
Maher clarified: “I’m not angry. I’m loving every minute of it.”
Though Mellencamp did not mention Kehrberg, 57, by name, he wasted no time gushing over the multi-millionaire, telling Maher that she has “never left my side” since the beginning of their romance.
As for their meet-cute, Mellencamp recalled that the “beautiful” Kehrberg “just walked into my apartment in New York unexpectedly.” He said, “She was with a couple of friends. She walked in. She didn’t know I was going to be there. I didn’t know she was there. We met each other.”
He also threw in some more self-deprecating humor when talking about his new romance, joking that it was “hard to believe” he’s in a relationship in the first place.
Mellencamp has been in a number of high-profile relationships throughout the years and is the father of five, including daughter and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Teddi Mellencamp. He’s openly admitted that he hasn’t always been the best partner.
In June, John called himself a “s—y boyfriend” to Meg Ryan, whom he dated for 10 years.
“I love Meg Ryan. She doesn’t love me so much,” he told Esquire at the time.
Ryan, 61, called off her engagement to John in 2018 after seven years of on-and-off dating.
A source exclusively told Us at the time that the You’ve Got Mail actress “had enough” of their romance. “She has no regrets,” the insider said.
The “Small Town” singer, meanwhile, gave his own insight into what went wrong with Ryan. Explaining to Esquire that the two met while they were both “coming out of [their] shells,” Ryan became more independent — while John stayed behind. She “learned how to do everything” while he “learned to do nothing,” he told the outlet.
Ryan was previously married to Dennis Quaid from 1991 to 2001, with whom she shares son Jack Quaid. (Ryan is also the mom of daughter Daisy.) John, for his part, has been married three times: to Priscilla Esterline while he was still in high school, to Victoria Granucci from 1981 to 1989 and to Elaine Irwin from 1992 to 2011.
