Katy Perry Reveals She Was Nervous Performing in Front of Justin Trudeau Just Days After Their Romance Began

Katy Perry is opening up about an unexpectedly nerve-racking moment from her Lifetimes Tour — performing in front of Justin Trudeau shortly after the two began dating.

The 41-year-old pop star reflected on the experience during a VIP screening of Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour — Live from Paris at AMC The Grove in Los Angeles on Wednesday, August 26.

Perry explained that after decades of performing in front of massive audiences around the world, she does not normally experience significant stage fright. Even during major tours, she said any nervousness tends to be limited to opening night, when the production is still coming together and the pressure to deliver a polished performance is especially high.

“I always create a super special fan experience,” Perry said. “But I don’t typically get nervous.”

She acknowledged that she may still feel “some butterflies” before the first concert of a tour because so many elements have to come together at once.

Social media has also added another layer of pressure for performers, she noted, because clips from concerts can circulate almost instantly and fans are quick to analyze everything from the staging to the vocals.

Still, Perry said one particular show during her Lifetimes Tour felt very different.

That concert took place in Montreal, where Trudeau — the former prime minister of Canada — was standing in the audience.

“In Montreal, you know, this is the tour. This is the Lifetimes Tour,” Perry recalled.

She then admitted that Trudeau’s presence made her unusually self-conscious.

“When the documentary comes, y’all might see me in a different way because … in Montreal, I was like, ‘I can’t look at him.’ A lot of energy.”

Trudeau was spotted attending Perry’s sold-out Montreal concert in July 2025, standing close to the front of the crowd while she performed.

Videos shared online at the time showed Trudeau smiling and watching Perry onstage.

What made the moment particularly significant was the timing.

According to reports about their relationship, Perry and Trudeau had only begun dating days before he attended the show.

That meant Perry, a performer accustomed to singing in front of tens of thousands of strangers, suddenly found herself nervous because one specific person was watching.

The Montreal concert became one of the earliest public moments connected to their relationship.

While Perry was navigating a new romance during the tour, another extremely important person was also watching her perform: her daughter, Daisy.

Perry shares Daisy with her former partner Orlando Bloom. The singer welcomed her daughter in 2020, and Daisy is now 6 years old.

Speaking at the Los Angeles screening, Perry said having her daughter witness the tour carried a deeper emotional meaning.

She described it as “really important and wonderful” for Daisy to be able to see “her mom and her power.”

For Perry, the tour was not simply about performing her biggest songs or creating another elaborate pop production. It also became a personal example for her daughter of confidence, perseverance and embracing life even when circumstances are difficult.

The singer acknowledged that the beginning of the tour was not easy.

From her perspective, there was considerable outside criticism and skepticism surrounding her when the tour began.

“I think in the beginning of this tour, from the outside, everyone that wants to have a hot take, there were a lot of people betting against me, right, in the very beginning, and this and that,” Perry said.

Instead of allowing the commentary to control her experience, Perry said she made the decision to enjoy herself.

“I’m having fun,” she declared.

She then addressed one of the labels that has occasionally followed her online — the idea that some of her performances or public moments are “cringe.”

Perry appeared determined not to let that criticism influence the way she chooses to live.

“You want to call me the queen of cringe?” she said. “I’m gonna suck the juice out of every single one of these fruits in this life.”

The singer continued with an emphatic description of the philosophy she has embraced.

“I’m gonna never have any regrets. I’m gonna leave no stone unturned. I’m going to live my life to the fullest. I am not scared.”

Perry explained that she sees life as a singular opportunity and does not want fear or public judgment to prevent her from fully experiencing it.

“This is that one opportunity in this skin, you know, as this character, and I don’t want to have any regrets,” she said.

She added that it was meaningful for Daisy to witness that mindset firsthand.

However, Perry made clear that the tour was not always joyful behind the scenes.

“It wasn’t always peachy-keen jelly bean,” she admitted.

There were difficult days, particularly during a stretch before July 28.

According to Perry, something shifted around that point.

“It was hard before July 28, and then it got pretty,” she said. “It got cute. It got really cute.”

She continued playfully, “And then I got real cute, and then I was floating like the butterfly on the butterfly.”

Before reaching that happier period, however, Perry said she had experienced what felt like one of her emotional lows.

“But before that, I remember it was actually the lowest part,” she said.

A major factor was the exhaustion and isolation that can accompany a long tour.

While Perry was traveling, many of her friends were spending time together back home. She found herself missing important moments and increasingly feeling disconnected from her normal life.

“My friends were all together [while I was on tour], and I had missed a couple of things back home, and I was missing home,” she explained.

Perry said she had been away for approximately six weeks — a length of time that pushed her close to her personal limit.

“I was gone for like six weeks, and that’s pretty much my max,” she said. “I started to go insane.”

She recalled struggling emotionally during that period.

“I remember I was having a really tough time,” Perry said.

Then, according to the singer, circumstances changed dramatically.

She compared the transition to the familiar expression about a rainbow appearing after a storm.

“After the hurricane came the rainbow,” she said.

Perry admitted that such sayings can sometimes sound cliché, but she found herself experiencing that emotional reversal almost immediately after one of her darkest periods.

“Those clichés in your darkest times, like right after that, it was like poof,” she explained.

Her comments appeared to connect several different experiences from the tour: professional criticism, homesickness, motherhood, renewed confidence and the beginning of her relationship with Trudeau.

The Montreal performance, in particular, seems to have taken on a very different meaning in hindsight.

At a time when Perry was already dealing with the pressures of touring and public scrutiny, she found herself performing only feet away from someone with whom she had just begun a romantic relationship.

Despite being one of the world’s most experienced pop performers, she could barely bring herself to look at him.

Fans may eventually get a closer glimpse at that moment and Perry’s emotional journey through the tour when more behind-the-scenes material emerges.

In the meantime, audiences will be able to experience the concert itself on the big screen.

Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour — Live from Paris is scheduled to arrive in cinemas and IMAX theaters worldwide on Wednesday, September 2, for a limited theatrical engagement.

For Perry, the project captures more than a concert.

It represents a period in which she was learning to ignore criticism, embrace uncomfortable moments, show her daughter what confidence looks like and continue living as fully as possible — even when the person making her most nervous happened to be standing near the front row.