It's impossible to listen to the radio without hearing Shawn Mendes's raspy vocals, and now he's opening up about how "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" came to be. He wrote the hit song about a girl he was crushing on and no, sorry, it wasn't you. In fact, it's impossible to compete with this mystery girl, because she's 100 percent fictional.

"I wrote the song actually about a girl in a movie script that I read," Mendes told MTV News correspondent Gaby Wilson this week, ahead of his VMA performance on Sunday. "I was going to act in a movie and I fell in love with the girl character, and so I wrote a song about her."

Let's be real here. Who among us HASN'T fallen for a fictional character? I don't know about you, but I once harbored a serious crush on Aladdin, and he's a cartoon. At least Mendes was rational enough to catch feelings for a three-dimensional character. "I mean, it'd be cool if it was a real girl," he added.

The girl may not be real, but Shawn's VMA nomination certainly is. "Treat You Better" is up for Best Pop alongside Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You," Harry Styles's "Sign Of The Times," Fifth Harmony's "Down," Katy Perry's "Chained To The Rhythm," and Miley Cyrus's "Malibu." But even if Shawn doesn't take home the coveted award, he'll still have a winning night as one of the show's many talented performers.

The 2017 VMAs touch down at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on Sunday, August 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. See the full list of nominees and vote for Best New Artist now!