Strange Details About Cher's Relationships

Cher and convention have never been synonymous concepts. The pop legend has spent her entire life subverting the rules in music, in fashion, and especially in love. Where other stars play by Hollywood's script of picture-perfect romances, Cher has blazed her own signature trail through the industry, colluding with all kinds of lovers — men half her age, demonic rock gods, queer people, and even an unassuming bagel baker. Her dating history can be considered yet another extension of her dramatic public persona, which she has shaped over 60 long, bold years in showbiz. 

What has remained consistent through the years is Cher's confidence in her choices, which she summed up in one line to Vanity Fair: "I still don't know anything about [men]. But you want to know what? I honestly don't care what people think of who I choose to be with." At the center of it all, of course, is her unforgettable romance with musician Sonny Bono, who was once her better half both onstage and in life. In the decades following their turbulent romance, Cher found and lost and found love several times over, with each relationship exposing details stranger than the last. Here are some of them. 

Sonny Bono and Cher's romance is perhaps one of music's most iconic, but it began under the most unromantic circumstances. They crossed paths during a chance encounter, courtesy of some mutual friends, at a coffee shop in Los Angeles in 1962. "It wasn't love at first sight. I just thought this guy was special," Cher, who was 16 then, wrote in her namesake memoir about the songwriter, with whom she would eventually make a legacy (via Vulture). But at the time, it seemed like a hard pass, considering everything from Bono's ongoing divorce from his first wife to his general disinterest in pursuing Cher, who was over a decade younger than he was. 

The stars somehow aligned when a broke and homeless Cher got an offer from Bono to move in with her, on one condition. "If you cook and clean the place, you could always move in with me for a while," Cher recalled him saying. Twisting the knife even further, he added: "Don't worry, I've got twin beds. And honestly, I don't find you particularly attractive." Even so, she accepted. Their awkward beginning gradually evolved into a romance that gave way to a marriage in 1964, the legendary musical duo Sonny & Cher, and their child Chaz Bono in 1969. 

Through the '60s, Sonny Bono and Cher seemed to have it all: chart-topping hits, a legion of fans, television fame, and a complete family life. They were all but America's favorite couple. But what looked like a glamorous fairy tale from the outside held darker truths behind closed doors. The red flags had apparently begun showing up very early in their relationship, and Cher noticed but failed to make sense of Bono's jealous, critical tendencies, which pinned her down. "Later I would find out that possessive and caring didn't exactly go hand in hand," she wrote in her memoir. 

Besides the restrictions Bono put on her, an overworked Cher also had to grapple with her husband's infidelities. "I wouldn't have had to look outside our marriage if I was sexually satisfied," he apparently told her. Though the "I Got You Babe" hitmakers were climbing the charts as a pop duo conquering every creative frontier, from comedy to music and films, their domestic life was crumbling to the point that Cher contemplated suicide. "I was dizzy with loneliness. I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear," she wrote about the time she stood on her balcony in Las Vegas (via Variety). Though she didn't see her impulse through to the end, it offered her a moment of clarity and led the way to their separation in 1974. 

Cher was still married to Sonny Bono when she met record executive David Geffen in 1973. It was a chance encounter that happened on the opening night of Geffen's iconic Roxy club on Sunset Strip, with a shared table setting off an unlikely romance between the two. In an episode of PBS' American Masters, a visibly starstruck Geffen can be seen gushing about the night he flirted with the "Believe" hitmaker and eventually asked her out. "I thought, 'God this guy is so great. He's so smart, he's so funny, everyone loves him, he's gay. I can hang out with him, I can have a new friend,'" Cher said on her part, although Geffen's sexuality was not public knowledge during the time that they dated. 

Geffen confirmed that the time he spent with Cher was "the first heterosexual relationship [he] ever had" — a claim that was also publicized memorably in Tom King's controversial 2000 book about him, years after Geffen came out as gay. "I was the first person to share his bed and to share his life," Cher was quoted saying (via The New York Times). "People don't believe that ... But we were really crazy about each other." Cher and Geffen went out for a couple of years, during which time he also helped her navigate her divorce from Sonny Bono, but the relationship ended when Cher took a new lover. 

By the time the mid-'70s rolled in, Cher had found a new paramour in Gregg Allman, frontman of The Allman Brothers Band. Their relationship was founded on very shaky ground right from the start, with Cher still in the midst of her divorce with Sonny Bono and Allman trying to grapple with his rock life in the fast lane. But somehow, the two musicians came together and like a true '70s rock romance, Cher and Allman's relationship moved lightning fast and burned bright. Only, the largely sheltered "Little Man" singer didn't know that Allman's drug habits were part of the deal. 

"Gregg at one point, early in their relationship, says to her, 'Just go home. Pretend this was a trip to Disneyland. It was fun while it lasted,'" Alan Paul, author of a book on Allman's band, told Fox News. Despite the challenges, Cher was willing to make it work, and in 1975, they made the ill-fated decision to get married — just three days after Cher's divorce from Bono. In her memoir, Cher wrote that the whirlwind wedding came on the heels of her pregnancy and that there was "nothing romantic" about it. Just nine days later, she moved to file for divorce, reportedly owing to Allman's addictions. Though they managed to pull through then and welcomed their son Elijah Blue Allman together, they only stuck it out until 1979 when they called it quits for good.

Cher's approach to dating can hardly be called traditional, but the setup she had with hard rocker Gene Simmons from Kiss was radically unusual. In the '70s, they shared what was apparently "the best relationship I've ever had with a human being," as Cher told People, with the caveat that the lovebirds were also seeing other people during their romance. Simmons, who named Cher his "first love" in the same interview, was not averse to bedding other women, while his grueling tour schedules often left Cher to fill his absence with the company of men who were not him. 

Notwithstanding the oscillating themes of infidelity and worship in their open relationship, Cher and Simmons were steady. For Simmons especially, these were uncharted waters. "We've talked about getting married, but all this is new to me," he said. "I've never had anything even close to being serious. I've been a snake most of my life." The relationship also prompted Simmons to ditch his dramatic makeup-clad Kiss alter ego as The Demon from time to time and step out as a regular man with his lady love. It hardly afforded him any anonymity — given that Cher was still immediately recognizable in public — and seemed to give his real self more exposure than made him comfortable.

For all the declarations of love they made for each other, Cher and Gene Simmons' relationship did not last. The shocker was not that they broke up but the manner in which it came about, with Cher inadvertently setting her partner up with one of her closest friends, the ever-iconic Diana Ross. It happened around Christmas one year, when Simmons was in New York and unsure of what present to get the "Strong Enough" singer. Cher herself suggested that he call on Ross for help with his shopping and he did, changing the courses of all their lives. 

"I remember coming in and immediately thinking two things about her: first, that she was very sensual, and second, that she was in firm control of her career," Simmons wrote in his memoir "Kiss and Make-Up" (via InStyle) about meeting the Grammy-nominated singer. She served him what was likely a very delicious chocolate cake, which Simmons has continued to recall in interviews even decades after, and they hit it off — a little too well. Simmons soon swapped out his partner, even going so far as to admit on "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" that he "of course" cheated on Cher with Ross and that their love triangle ended the two women's friendship.  

Cher's lifelong friendship with Val Kilmer has been well documented. But there was once a time in the '80s when the two were a famous star couple in love. They met at a birthday party and hit it off quickly. "We became friends because we laughed at the same things constantly," Cher told People. The considerable decade-wide difference in their ages apparently ruffled some feathers, but Cher knew better than to pay heed to the judgment that followed her bold life choices. "Younger men weren't intimidated by older women," she said simply. And sure enough, Kilmer wasn't. 

Though he was yet to earn his breakout as a hunky aviator in the 1986 classic "Top Gun," Kilmer didn't let Cher's seniority (both in age and fame) overshadow his personality when they were dating. According to Cher, "[W]e were both alpha males ... and neither of us was going to give up on that." Though the romance was sweet, it wasn't meant to last, and before Kilmer became a household name, they parted ways. "Look, I was madly in love with Val Kilmer, and he left," Cher said decades later on "The Howard Stern Show." But it was hardly a tragic end to their story, which then evolved into a profound friendship over the years — all through Kilmer's health issues until his death in 2025.

Stashed away somewhere in a folder of all the high-profile men Cher has dated lies a name that doesn't get as much recognition as its counterparts: Josh Donen. A producer and also the son of Stanley Donen, one of the most decorated directors in the Hollywood history, he shared a significant romance with Cher, who back in the '80s called him her "most serious relationship since being married" (via The Washington Post). But besides the restrained nature of their private romance, details of which haven't been as sensational as Cher's other relationships, the oddest thing about their pairing was perhaps how it began. 

Donen was reportedly a talent agent when he first met Cher, who was dating one of his clients, Val Kilmer, at the time. After the spark between Cher and Kilmer fizzled out, Donen seemingly stepped into the picture, and by 1985, they were an item living together in Malibu. From celebrity weddings to major fashion moments, Donen stuck right by Cher's side over the next few years. In fact, he was also present for her memorable 1988 Oscar win for "Moonstruck" and apparently almost passed out at the sight of Cher in her iconic beaded dress. 

Cher and Tom Cruise might sound like an odd pairing today, but back in the mid-1980s, the two stars had a brief fling that still stands out as a fascinating bit of Hollywood lore. Their paths first crossed at the 1985 nuptials of Sean Penn and Madonna in Malibu, which was marked by one of the biggest celebrity wedding disasters pop culture has seen. Cher, who was attending the event with Josh Donen, had by then been picking up Oscar nominations and making her mark on cinema with "Silkwood." Cruise, many years her junior, had also earned his breakthrough with "Risky Business" and was well on his way to becoming the industry's hottest new icon. 

They were reunited later under the most unusual circumstances at a White House event, as Cher told the Daily Mail. "[A] bunch of people who were dyslexic were invited to the White House, and Tom and I are both dyslexic ... there definitely was a connection there." It was the gateway to a short romance between them — wherein they even lived together for a bit — but it wasn't until years later that the Cher-Cruise relationship of yore set headlines on fire. In a 2013 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen," she sensationally named the "Top Gun" star among her top five lovers. 

It may be hard to believe that in Cher's star-studded roster of all the famous men she has been linked to, an ordinary baker stands out as one of the ultimate loves of her life. Rob Camilletti was only 22 and working at a bagel shop in New York when he met the 40-year-old superstar in 1986. He was also an aspiring actor on the side but in the absence of an eyeball-grabbing famous name at the time, the tabloids christened him "Bagel Boy" when he started going out with Cher. Their relationship continued for a good three years, marked by a lot of love and a lot more drama. 

The media interest in Cher and Camilletti's romance was intense, to the point that it prompted the young baker to lash out at the paparazzi near his singer girlfriend's home. During the 1989 incident, he broke their equipment and was handed a legal order that included probation, a fine, and community service. The public scrutiny proved lethal for their relationship, and Cher eventually parted ways with Camilletti, who later became a pilot. "They were so mean with Robert — you know, 'the bagel boy,'" she told Parade years later, revealing that they were still friends. 

In her 60s, Cher found love in the most boomer way possible: on Facebook. To be fair, the aughts were a thriving period for the then-new social media platform, and many, like Cher, were making judicious use of it to meet new people. One such online friend she made was the famous producer and comics writer Ron Zimmerman, whom she connected with after a friend convinced her to join Facebook. "And then on her page there was this really funny guy, who said the weirdest things. Like, under religion, it said 'Zeus,'" she told Jay Leno in an interview, talking about her early online chatting days with Zimmerman (via Express). 

Here's the kicker, though: Zimmerman was apparently completely clueless about the magnificent identity of the woman he was talking to, considering that the iconic singer — in a bid for security — had to conceal her real name on Facebook. "He thought I was either a hooker, a female impersonator, or a transvestite," Cher said, recalling Zimmerman's confusion over her frequent trips to Las Vegas. When the fog lifted, Cher and Zimmerman pursued a relationship that lay "some place between boyfriend and best friend," as she told ABC News. They seemed to have cherished each other long after their romance ended, with Cher visiting her dear "Ronny" just days before he died in 2022 (via X). 

Cher's romance with Alexander "A.E." Edwards is the latest juicy chapter in her ever-adventurous love life. The widespread interest in their relationship is largely, if not entirely, hinged on the 40-year divide between them. Then again, given Cher's penchant for age-gap relationships, this is hardly the most sensational detail about the duo. Their on-again, off-again relationship traces back to Paris Fashion Week 2022, where they first connected and eventually embarked on a roller coaster romance that, inevitably, fueled headlines. Equally unsurprising was Cher's devil may care attitude to public judgment: "No matter what happens, I love being with him ... What I learned is that it's never too late," she told People. 

Cher and Edwards' relationship so far has been defined by passion that often seems to leave fans on edge. For instance, in just a few weeks of knowing each other, they sparked engagement rumors after Cher took to social media to show off a massive sparkler Edwards gifted her. While it was only a Christmas gift and not a forecast of marriage, the romantic tone of their relationship abruptly shifted when they parted ways in 2023. They reconciled soon after. And as if all this drama wasn't enough for fans to keep up with, in 2024, Edwards controversially referred to Cher as "my b****" while quoting a lyric to TMZ, before adding — "My woman, but the lyrics are the lyrics."