THIS reputed ladykiller has women eating out of his hands.

But local rocker John Molina of band Krueger claims he’s actually uncomfortable when interacting with them one-on-one.

The 39-year-old Filipino-Chinese told The New Paper: “I clam up when I’m on one-on-one dates. I prefer to get to know someone by hanging out casually in groups. I can be more relaxed.”

So the playboy image is just a facade then?

The bachelor said laughingly: “The stage persona is very friendly to everyone, perhaps over-friendly to some. And then there’s the real John Molina, who is actually a shy and introverted person.”

Although he dates regularly, John revealed he has been in only one committed relationship. He was just a teenager then.

“I guess you could say that she broke my heart. Perhaps that’s why I prefer not to commit – so that I won’t get hurt.”

John also said he had an on-off relationship with model-host Nadya Hutagalung back in the early 1990s, after they met at a photoshoot.

He revealed: “I can’t say that we were exclusive. But we were definitely very close. We didn’t break up in the strictest sense of the phrase. We just stopped seeing each other when she got together with the Korean guy.”

That 1998 union with South Korean stuntman Jung Doo Hong dissolved the next year because the couple did not register the marriage.

The Australian-Indonesian beauty, who has three children, is currently married to ex-national swimmer Desmond Koh.

Still friends

John said: “We're still friends. There’s no animosity. She seems very happy. Desmond is good for her.”

The rocker’s penchant for travel may have a part to play in his bachelor status.

Every once in a while, he’ll jet off for a long break from music and reside in another country.

His latest year-long sabbatical was in Bali, where he had been busy with his Asian restaurant Chinoiserie, which was set up last November.

John returned from the Indonesian island a month ago to take up residency at Clarke Quay nightspot Yello Jello with Krueger.

Chinoiserie is the latest of his business ventures, many of which haven’t done too well.

Early this year, the now-defunct club Thumper, which John was managing, reportedly owed rent arrears to landlord Goodwood Park Hotel, where it was located.

Previous reports stated that the hotel had issued two writs of seizure on Thumper, which was owned by T Entertainment.

John said the rent owed to the hotel was from before he became director of the company last November.

Thumper shut down a month later.

He would only say he invested a “high five-figure” sum and pulled out because “it was no longer profitable”.

John said he is still a shareholder of the dormant company. He is also still in touch with its shareholders which include Mr Ong Tze Boon, chairman of architectural firm Ong & Ong and Mr Thomas Fernandez, managing director of pest control company PestBusters.

John also owned a dive shop in Siglap, but that folded in 1998 after two years.

Then there was a satay manufacturing factory in Bali, which closed in 2006 after four years.

John says he wouldn’t call these “failed ventures” because he has learnt much out of each experience.

“Take the diving shop, for instance. I knew it couldn’t go on forever. But I gained so much from the travelling and got to know so many people. I closed it eventually because I missed the stage. I always come back to music.”

Krueger plays at Yello Jello every night, except Sunday.

Of the partnership, John said: “Bernard (Lim, chief executive of LifeBrandz, which owns Yello Jello) and I have been discussing this for years. There was never a suitable place until Yello Jello, which is now a live music venue.”

The psychedelic lounge used to be a retro bar.

But don’t expect the frontman to sing R&B numbers like Gimme Hope Jo’anna, which he was doing a lot of in Thumper.

He said: “Now, it’s just good old rock ‘n’ roll. But we may throw in a few boyband songs just for laughs.”

This article was first published in The New Paper.