Katy Perry: I Wasn't Ready to Have Children with Russell Brand

Katy Perry shows some skin on the cover of Marie Claire‘s January 2014 issue, on newsstands December 17.

Here is what the 29-year-old singer had to share with the mag:

On having kids: “I’m definitely not there yet, and I can’t plan that far in advance. When I decide to have a family, I’ll just want to be Mom for a little bit.[Brand] really wanted me to have children, and I knew I wasn’t ready – I think it was a way of control. I think it was part of, If I have a kid, then I would have to sacrifice – I’d have to be home more. I really wanted to, but I knew I wasn’t ready for it. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, let’s have a kid because we’re in love.”

On her on-and-off relationship with boyfriend John Mayer: “I took a break from my boyfriend, not one that I wanted. It was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me. That is what let me to this new awakening, this realizing, If I don’t do some self-love, I’m not going to be able to keep the love that I want. I still needed to deal with all of my ex-husband stuff. I hadn’t. It’s almost like if I kept talking about it, it would seem like I actually cared about it. I don’t.

On the dark hours following her split from ex-husband Russell Brand: “There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth of my marriage where I was like, ‘OK. All right. I can’t feel this. This is too intense right now.’ I was, like, just eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that’s it.”

For more from Katy, visit MarieClaire.com!

FYI: Katy is wearing Versace.