Check out the December issue of Elle magazine featuring Oklahoma’s very own Carrie Underwood. She talks about Olympian Michael Phelps (have you heard they’re dating — not!), on dealing with celebrities, why she tries to keep her love life private and more. Elle hits newsstands today.

Here’s what she has to say about rumors that she’s dating Michael Phelps:

“I never met the guy! I’m sure he’s lovely. I’m sure he’s a great guy. He made America proud! But I never met him, I never mentioned him in an interview, I never mentioned him in that way to anybody that I know. That was one fo those completely, totally, utterly fabricated lies that came out of nowhere.”

On fashion:

“I’ve been trying to dress myself a little better now just because I feel like people are disappointed when they met me and they’re like, ‘Oh, her hair’s in a ponytail and she doesn’t have any makeup on.’ So I’ve been trying to, I guess, meet people’s expectations a little bit more and look like a real person that has a real job.”

On her protectiveness as a mother: “When it comes to my kids, I’m just like a lioness. I’m like, No one gets near my babies! That’s why we chose not to sell the photos of her. We just want to have our little cocoon.”

On natural childbirth: “It was the most beautiful thing to go through with him [husband Keith Urban]. I had a great team of women, too. At one point there were nine women in the room and Keith.” 

On husband Keith Urban: “He’s the greatest man besides my dad I’ve ever met. He’s loyal and he’s a soul searcher. He’ll kill me for…He’s very very private.”

On lessons she learned during her first marriage to Tom Cruise:  “That was an extraordinary thing for me. [Tom] taught me an enormous amount – as a girl into a woman. Absolutely, I would do it again.”

On living in Tennessee: “There’s something to be said for going back to a simple form of living – nature and family. There’s something very…there’s safety in that.”

 On becoming a mother later in life: “At 41, it’s a more painful love. I look at that little girl, and I’m, like, Oh, no, what’s going to happen? It’s almost like my heart is stretching; I’m feeling all these muscles stretch with emotion. It’s a beautiful love but there’s a lot of fear and pain for her life, and for Bella’s and Connor’s life. I like to believe that nothing was stopping Sunday from coming into the world.”

 On her screen life compared to reality: “My screen life was far more exciting and beautiful than my real life. I went through this long period of being alone. I was very, very damaged, and I did not want to jump into a relationship, because I would have nothing to give, just shreds of what I was.”