John Mayer scored a win with Ed Sheeran on Friday during his guest-hosting stint on The Late Late Show.
Not only did 37-year-old Mayer sing backup for Sheeran, 23, but the pair also got tattoos together.
The pleasant time was fortunately not interrupted by mention of Taylor Swift – one of Sheeran’s best friends and Mayer’s ex-girlfriend.
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Musical guest: John Mayer (left) and Ed Sheeran (right) had a pleasant time on The Late Late Show on Friday
Instead, the night started out on a light, comedic note with Mayer and Sheeran designing tattoos for each other.
Both men would then get that tattoo by show-time, never seeing the design until it aired on television.
Sheeran and Mayer proved to be kind men: Mayer gave Sheeran the words ‘kool guy’ on his right arm, while Sheeran gave Mayer a small cat head on the upper chest.
Tattoo time: The two singers seemed to have fun, especially when they designed tattoos for each other
Mayer’s sweet little tattoo pet even had a double meaning, according to Sheeran.
‘When you show it to kids, you can be like Oh, it’s a kitty cat! And you can chat-up women and be like, I’m into p*****s myself,’ the Grammy-nominated singer explained with a grin.
The visit wasn’t just about tattoos though, with the two singers taking to the stage to perform Sheeran’s hit song, Don’t.
For real? The two did not know what the other was designing
Revealing: Later in the show, both men showed their tattoos on-air, seeing it themselves for the first time
One of many: Both Sheeran and Mayer had many other tattoos already present
Mayer, a seven-time Grammy winner in his own right, played guitar and sang back-up for his guest’s number.
Performing Don’t was one of several places in which Swift’s name might have come up.
Rumours circulating right after the song’s release in the spring of 2014 indicated that the lyrics may have been about Swift.
Simple: For Sheeran, Mayer designed a simple phrase with an arrow: ‘kool guy’
Double meaning: Mayer got a kitty cat face with an innocent explanation for kids and a dirty one for picking up women, according to a gleeful Sheeran
No Taylor talk: Mayer (left, in 2009) and Sheeran (right, in 2013) avoided mentioning Taylor Swift – a good friend of Sheeran’s and an ex-girlfriend of Mayer’s
Sheeran quickly killed those rumours though, telling Parade in June that the song was ‘about someone who’s well-known, but not Taylor.’
Mayer, meanwhile, has not denied that his 2013 single, Paper Doll, was a response to Swift’s song, Dear John.
The latter has been identified as one of many songs written by Swift about an ex.
Performance: Sheeran performed his single, Don’t, off of the Grammy-nominated album, X
Swift and Mayer dated in 2009 and in 2010, recording a song together, Half Of My Heart, during that time.
In a further Swiftian complication, Mayer’s current girlfriend is Katy Perry, a singer believed to have some sort of feud with Swift.
But the pre-Grammy visit by Sheeran steered clear of almost all of that trouble, making it into a joke when Mayer said of his guest early on: ‘He’s young, he’s handsome, he’s talented… And I hate him.’
Backup: Mayer played guitar and sang backup for Sheeran on a song once-rumoured to be about Swift
The time spent with the definitely not-hated Sheeran was only the most recent big show for Mayer, who started his guest-hosting off right on Wednesday with the Super Bowl dancing sharks.
Seen as proof that Mayer was back together with on-again-off-again girlfriend Perry (who danced with the sharks at the Super Bowl), the host gushed about the ‘huge get’ he had managed to secure for his first show.
‘This is actually a really huge get for me. You probably saw my first guests perform during Katy Perry’s Super Bowl XLIX halftime show, the most watched show in television history,’ he told the excited audience.
Snapchat: John Mayer interviewed the Super Bowl halftime dancing sharks as he guest hosted The Late Late Show on Wednesday
‘They’ve since become a viral internet sensation and we’re lucky to have them here tonight; please welcome the Super Bowl halftime sharks.’
To huge applause, the two fish emerged, lead by ‘Carl Thorsen, Lead Marine Biologist at the Harrington Institute of Oceanography’ – who later revealed was also their agent.
The predatory performers almost stole the show from Perry last Sunday, especially ‘left shark’ who appeared to lose the run of himself during the routine and started making up his own moves.
Agent: The sharks were accompanied by a marine biologist, who was also their ‘agent’
‘I guess my first question is for the sharks… what’s it been like to see this turn into such a national media event?’ Mayer asked. ‘Did you expect this to become the phenomenon that it has?’
The musician was met with an awkward silence, before Thorsen intervened. ‘Uh, yeah they can’t talk John, they’re sharks. They’re not dolphins.’
‘And what do they eat? What’s their diet?’ Mayer asked as a follow-up.
Awkward: Left Shark became an internet sensation when he lost track of the California Gurls routine
‘Mostly other dancers,’ Thorsen replied matter-of-factly. ‘It’s quite gruesome to see, but they are part of the food chain. There’s people, [then] sharks, [then] back-up dancers.’
When Mayer suggested they try create another viral sensation by all four dancing, the sharks refused and walked off stage.
‘I’m sorry to disappoint everyone, but they don’t dance for anything less than $100,000,’ Thorsen confirmed. ‘I’m also their agent.’
