Craig David says he’s been celibate for a year: ‘I had to reign it back’

Craig David has said how he has given up fleeting romantic relationships in favour of a celibate lifestyle.

Speaking on episode two of The Louis Theroux Podcast, the 41-year-old musician who is best known for his hit song “7 Days”, opened up about how the relationships described in the song have informed his love life for almost two decades.

In the song, David sings the lyrics: “I met this girl on Monday / Took her for a drink on Tuesday / We were making love by Wednesday.”

The musician told Theroux that he continued to pursue short-term, surface-level relationships with women in his twenties and thirties and keep them at “arm’s length” because he was afraid of heartbreak.

“Unless you are both on a level, you are going to spill over which can go into many different traumas. It can be like that rejection years ago for me which has now become my defence mechanism,” he said, speaking about the “pain” he felt from his first-ever heartbreak.

David said he would set up terms with women and tell them he was not looking for anything serious, but in hindsight, those were “empty words”.

“I realised that me not having healed my own issues meant I wasn’t open to being with someone else,” he explained.

When probed by Theroux if he was no longer pursuing romantic relationships, David said he had “reigned back” his love life in the past two years.

“Which does mean not outwardly going on dates, the sexual interactions are going to have to stop now,” he said, before clarifying he has been celibate for one year.

The “Walking Away” musician said that he wants to be in a “healthy place” before he embarks on a new relationship.

“I’ve realised that the energetic exchange between two people is so powerful that unless the two of you are on such a level, and we’re both meeting people at a good and healthy place, that’s the start of a relationship,” he said.

He added: “If there’s no roots to the plant then the plant won’t grow.”

David said he had to forget “all of the aesthetics” and learn how to really get to know a romantic partner before becoming sexual with them.

He continued: “If we can’t deep dive, If we can’t laugh like crazy and see the beauty within you, then we will be playing the same game that I have been playing from day one.”

“I don’t want that anymore,” he said.

Theroux left in awe of David’s comments, then said: “I can’t believe that Craig David, who met a girl on Monday and was making love on Tuesday is now saying he might not be making love any day of the week. That’s quite a shock.”