Inside Katy Perry's name change: Singer adapted stage name for 'protection' - after Orlando Bloom shocked fans by using her real name

Some fans and viewers were left shocked last week while watching the VMAs, when Orlando Bloom referred to fiancé Katy Perry as Katheryn Hudson.

Of course, most Katy Kats know the reason why Katy Perry changed her name to embrace a new stage persona, but a few were left scratching their heads.

Perry's real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, which Bloom reminded fans of last week.

Watch the video above.

As he presented her with the 2024 Video Vanguard Award, he said: "I fell in love with her as Katheryn Hudson.

"You know her as a global superstar who brings love, light and her unique sense of humour to every song she writes and every music video she creates."

"She brings that same love and joy to our family... she loves with her whole heart and it's kind of irresistible," he added to cheers from the crowd.

LIVE UPDATES: The biggest moments from the Emmy Awards as they happen

In 2001, Perry released a gospel record called Katy Hudson. She soon changed her name and took on her mother's maiden name, Perry. Her parents are Pentecostal pastors.

The Teenage Dream hitmaker, 39, reportedly changed her name from Hudson to the stage name Perry to avoid confusion with the actress, Kate Hudson.

For Perry, taking on that stage name means a new pop persona.

"A lot of people are living in fear from something that happened in their childhood, or some form of PTSD they picked up along the way, and I created this wonderful character called Katy Perry that I very much am, and can step into all the time, but I created that character out of protection," she told The Guardian in an old interview.

She added: "I didn't want to be Katheryn Hudson. I hated that, it was too scary for me, so I decided to be someone else."

READ MORE: Band apologises, cancels show after on-stage altercation

She also previously told Drew Barrymore: "I think obviously there's an onstage persona."

"I save a lot of that energy for being onstage and I dial it up."

The mother-of-one once had a trademark battle with an Australian designer called Katie Perry, but she lost the battle.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift returns to the NFL after huge week

Katie Jane Taylor uses the name Katie Perry for her fashion brand – and the legal battle reportedly lasted more than a decade. The singer's company is called Kitty Purry and she reportedly was found to have breached the trademark ahead of her 2014 tour as she promoted her merchandise.

"As the judge said, it's a story of two women, two teenage dreams and one name and many hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions of dollars, spent in a fight over that name," a lawyer reportedly said at the time.

Perry is now having a music comeback – four years after her last album.

In a matter of days, her new album 143 will drop, and is her seventh studio album.

The singer is soon set to return to Australia to perform at the AFL Grand Final pre-game show.

"I'm so excited to be back in Australia and back at the mighty MCG to perform in front of 100,000 of the best and loudest fans in the world at this year's Toyota AFL Grand Final," Perry said in a statement shared by the AFL.

She concluded: "See you in September Oi Oi Oi!"

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HEREFOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.