Mariah Carey Rejects Cheating Rumor, No Premarital Sex For Her

Mariah Carey has the ultimate defense against claims she was banging her choreographer -- namely, she doesn't bang before marriage, and yeah ... that includes James Packer.

Sources close to Mariah tell us rumors about her relationship with Bryan Tanaka are completely false. We're told Mimi has a long-standing rep as a "traditional girl," and wouldn't blow that for anyone.

That stance extended to her now ex-fiance. We're told even though they lived together and spent weeks at a time on his yacht, they never got sexual. They always had separate rooms in their homes and on their boats.

Mariah's ex, Nick Cannon, can testify to her puritanical values. He's admitted in interviews he had to wait 'til they got hitched to round the bases.

Our Mariah sources say she and James were more like lovesick 12-year-olds -- they made out plenty, but never sealed the deal -- and that's one reason he was pushing hard to get married ASAP.

Ahh ... best laid plans.