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What do Nina Hagen, Madonna, Mariah Carey and of course Heidi Klum have in common? Correct: You were or are in a relationship with significantly younger men. A whispering topic not just for international tabloid media. Even in the private sector, the so-called “age gap shock” is always worth discussing.
In this context, pop legend Cher is making headlines again: According to reports in English tabloids, the singer is reportedly planning to marry her partner Alexander “AE” Edwards before her 80th birthday.
While insiders claim Cher sees her milestone birthday as the ideal moment to make this relationship official, her management is dismissing the reports for now.
Cher is not alone
The connection to the 39-year-old former rapper and Def Jam label manager has existed for three years now – and the age difference of around four decades plays “zero role” for Cher, as she repeatedly emphasizes.
The singer is by no means alone in the pop world with this attitude. Colleagues such as Madonna, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue have also publicly had relationships with significantly younger partners. Madonna, for example, was in a relationship with much younger dancers several times, Mariah Carey had a long-term relationship with Bryan Tanaka, and Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue also repeatedly attracted attention with relationships in which the age difference was “in favor” of the women.
In the German-speaking world, Heidi Klum (with Tom Kaulitz), Jenny Elvers (with Marc Terenzi), Helene Fischer (with dancer Thomas Seitel) and Ina Müller (with Johannes Oerding) have become publicly known in this context. The following formula applies: the larger the age gap, the more socially explosive it is.
Such partnerships represent a theme with which established artists break social expectations. However, such liaisons continue to serve as media excitement.
Dealing with criticism confidently
Cher remains as confident as ever when dealing with criticism of her relationship. In previous interviews and on social media, she made it clear that outsiders have no influence on her private life: “They don’t live my life,” she emphasized in an interview with the US TV channel CBS.
Edwards, on the other hand, repeatedly emphasizes that neither Cher’s age nor her extraordinary career represent an “obstacle” for him. According to their own statements, the two share a joy for life, humor and mutual inspiration.
The two strolled the red carpet together for the first time in 2023 at the Versace Fall show, where they appeared open, familiar and visibly in love.
Whether the two will actually go to the altar in the foreseeable future remains unconfirmed. Their relationship shows that in today’s pop culture, age differences have little impact beyond headlines in the “Miscellaneous.”