A Countryfied Jessica Talks John Mayer, Tony Romo

Jessica Simpson gussied up, threw on some cowboy boots, and chilled on June Carter’s piano to dish about her rocky love life, John Mayer, and down home country lovin’ with Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo. The reality star turned country singer talked to Elle for their September 2008 issue …

On Tony Romo: “Most of the guys I dated were captivated by my heart but they had different ways of trying to get to me. Tony understands me. He appreciates my talent. He’s the first person I’ve spiritually connected with. I’m a girl that loves to be in love. I love love!”

“It’s the cutest thing,” Simpson says of Romo. “He’ll say, ‘Jessica, 75% of the comments about your new single are favorable.’”

On her relationship with John Mayer: “John believed in the Jessica Simpson that’s within. He cherished our love. He helped make me the woman I am today. John is going to be an amazing man for someone, but I know that I was supposed to be with someone else.”

On her rocky love life: “I was going through a lot of pain. I didn’t try anything to change my life other than dating different types of guys and conforming to their worlds. I thought I had to be artsier, more intellectual.”

On recording a song about abuse: “I had to record that. There’s nothing on my album that you’re gonna hear that I don’t relate to or that I haven’t experienced. Because the only way I know how to sing is from life experience. I don’t want to talk about it, but I have definitely experienced abuse in away that I would tell people to take their heart and run.

What it feels like to go from America’s darling to America’s most wanted: “So many people want to bring me down, and I can’t wait to prove them wrong.”