Nearly 30 years before Cher joked that men her age were "all dead", the pop legend had already offered a remarkably similar explanation for why she preferred dating younger men.

The singer's memorable comments during a May 1, 2024, appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show attracted widespread attention. But an archived newspaper report from 1996 reveals that her dating philosophy has been remarkably consistent for decades.

During the conversation with Jennifer Hudson, Cher explained that men her own age had often been too intimidated to approach her. She then delivered the line that became the interview's defining moment, joking that the older men were now "all dead".

Behind the dark humour was a more personal explanation: despite her famously confident stage presence, Cher said she could be surprisingly shy around men when she wasn't working.

Cher was saying almost the same thing back in 1996

An archived edition of The Spokesman-Review, published on June 1, 1996, recorded an earlier statement from Cher about her relationships with younger men.

The newspaper attributed the remarks to an interview with Entertainment Tonight, in which the then-50-year-old singer explained that waiting for men her own age to ask her out would have left her without dates.

"Something about older men, they just don't like me," she said, according to the contemporary report.

That earlier remark gives her 2024 comments an interesting perspective. Rather than developing a preference for younger partners later in life, Cher had been describing the same experience since at least the mid-1990s.

When Hudson suggested that younger men were simply more willing to make the first move, Cher agreed, adding that they had been "raised by women like me".

How Cher's views connect to her relationship with Alexander Edwards

Her comments also help explain the public interest surrounding her romance with music executive Alexander "AE" Edwards, who is approximately 40 years younger than the singer.

The couple first became publicly linked in 2022, and their age difference has repeatedly attracted attention. But Cher has consistently rejected the idea that their relationship should be judged primarily by the years separating them.

In a separate CBS Mornings interview on November 4, 2025, Cher spoke to Gayle King about her relationship with Edwards, describing how much they enjoyed spending time together.

"Nobody knows what goes on between us," she said, adding that they "just have a blast".

She also shared Edwards' perspective on their age difference, explaining that he sees her spirit as younger than her age might suggest.

The conversation offered a more personal counterpart to her earlier joke. In 1996, Cher described why younger men were more likely to approach her. In 2024, she was still making essentially the same point, albeit with considerably darker humour. By 2025, she was explaining how that approach to relationships worked in her own life.

What initially appeared to be a spontaneous television punchline was, in fact, a familiar observation from a singer who had been discussing the subject in much the same way for almost three decades.