Cher

Men date younger women all the time but when a woman does the same it raises eyebrows – with those who do branded with the label ‘cougar’. 

However scientists have now confirmed that women being attracted to younger men is the norm, not the exception. 

A new study from the University of Carolina saw more than 6,000 people set up on blind dates via a US dating site, all of whom were looking for long-term love and matched based on their interests.

After the dates, analysis revealed both men and women said they were more attracted to younger partners.

And it appears Hollywood had the heads up, as some of the biggest female stars have a habit of dating toyboys. 

Music icon Cher’s current partner is 39 years her junior, while acting royalty Joan Collins’ husband is 27 years younger than her. 

So can you guess the age of Hollywood’s biggest cougars? MailOnline takes a look at the celebs dating toyboys as scientists confirm women really DO prefer younger men.

Men date younger women all the time but when a woman does the same it raises eyebrows – with those who do branded with the label ‘cougar’ (Cher seen with boyfriend Alexander Edwards)

Music icon Cher’s current partner is 39 years her junior, while acting royalty Joan Collins’ husband is 27 years younger than her (Joan seen with husband Percy Gibson)

Cher

Most recently, she has been dating Alexander ‘AE’ Edwards since they reconciled in September of last year. The pair have an age gap of 39 years (Seen in October)

Pop star Cher has a long had a reputation for dating younger men – she was involved with actor Rob Camilletti in 1986 when she was 18 years older than him. 

She recently quipped that she prefers to have younger boyfriends because all of the men in her own age group have died. 

Cher also shared that older men are all intimidated by her personality – so she would rather date men from later generations, who ‘were raised by women like me’ and as a result were never scared of her.

‘And the reason I got with young men is because men my age or older – well, now they’re all ᴅᴇᴀᴅ,’ she joked on the Jennifer Hudson show last year. ‘But before they just never, they were always terrified to approach me.’

As well as Rob, Cher has been linked to Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, both 10-ish years younger than her during their romances.

Most recently, she has been dating Alexander ‘AE’ Edwards since they reconciled in September of last year. The pair have an age gap of 39 years.

Following their first meeting at Paris Fashion Week in 2022, the Little Man singer was spotted holding hands with her much younger beau at Craigs in early November of that year.

During the first time their relationship was on, Cher poked fun at the age gap between her and Alexander when asked by a fan what she liked about him on social media.

The Believe hitmaker turned 78 years old last May.

Joan Collins

Dame Joan Collins has been happily married to her husband Percy Gibson, who is 31 years her junior, for over two decades (Seen in January 2024)

Dame Joan Collins has been happily married to her husband Percy Gibson, who is 31 years her junior, for over two decades. 

And dating younger men is definitely her preference, after she previously revealed she is relieved she married Percy as a partner her own age would be a disaster for her.

In an interview with The Sunday Times in 2021, the star of stage and screen said age gaps in marriages should be celebrated.

She told the newspaper: ‘Thank God I married somebody 30 years younger than me. I couldn’t bear to be married to someone my own age.’

Calling Percy, a Hollywood producer, ‘the rock that holds our family together’, she gushed: ‘He’s the best, I can’t imagine life without him.’ 

Joan has previously joked about outliving Percy despite their age gap as she revealed she would settle for living to 100. 

Percy, the longest-lasting of Joan’s husbands, is more than 30 years younger than her, a gap she dismisses in interviews with the line: ‘If he dies, he dies.’

Originally from Peru, Percy is a noted Hollywood producer, known primarily for producing Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Joan hit her 91st birthday last year.  

Madonna

Madonna recently sparked engagement rumours with her boyfriend Akeem Morris as she shared a number of pH๏τos with him while rocking a diamond ring on her left finger

She recently sparked engagement rumours with her boyfriend Akeem Morris as she shared a number of pH๏τos with him while rocking a diamond ring on her left finger.

But Madonna’s penchant for younger men did not begin with Akeem, who is 38 years her junior.   

Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice her sparkly new accessory earlier this month as they speculated that she is engaged to Akeem.

In one pH๏τo, she held up her new piece of bling while walking down a hallway with her man following a night out. 

Madonna has had her fair share of relationships but it was after she divorced director Guy Ritchie that she appeared to make a shift into going for strictly younger men. 

The star began dating Brazilian model Jesus Luz – who was 14 years her junior – shortly after the divorce was finalised. 

Her next toy boy lover was model and dancer Brahim Zaibat and the pair had an age gap of a whopping 27 years. 

She continued her pattern of dating younger men with back-up dancer Ahlamalik Williams, who she was with for four years until 2022. He was 31 years her junior. 

In 2022 she was linked to model Andrew Darnell, and their romance saw the biggest age gap as he was 40 years younger than her. 

Madonna closed out summer last year as she turned 66 years old.  

Sam Taylor-Johnson 

Husband and wife Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson met while she was directing him in the 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy (Seen in December)

They are undeniably one of Hollywood’s most talked about couples, having met when he was just 19.  

Husband and wife Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson met while she was directing him in the 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy.

She was over twice his age at the time but they proceeded to get engaged that year and marry in 2012 at Babington House in Somerset.

The lovebirds raise their two young children, Wylda Rae, 13, and Romy, 12, together at their glamorous home.

Sam is also mother to 27-year-old Angelica and 18-year-old Jessie from her first marriage to Jay Jopling – who was almost a decade her senior.

The mother-of-four was married to the art dealer in 1997 but they decided to go their separate ways for good in 2008.

Sam moved on from her heartache with Aaron and the filmmaker defiantly defended her choice to marry a man 23 years her junior.

‘If I gave a second thought to other people, I would be the unhappiest person, probably still in a miserable marriage,’ she told The Hollywood Reporter.

‘People like to talk about it. I’m like, “Yeah, but it works better than my last marriage”. It’s lasted longer than a lot of my friends’ marriages.’

Almost double her husband’s age, Sam is 57.  

Kris Jenner

Kris turned her attention to younger men when she entered into a relationship with music manager Corey Gamble (Seen in October 2023)

She first married Robert Kardashian – who was 11 years older than her – in 1978, before tying the knot with six-years-her-senior Caitlyn Jenner the year her divorce was finalised.

But after splitting from Caitlyn, Kris turned her attention to younger men when she entered into a relationship with music manager Corey Gamble. 

Kris and Corey, who is 15 years her junior, have been together since 2015 and she hinted that 2025 could be the year they finally marry.  

The Kardashian-Jenner matriarch previously insisted she did not want to get married again after her first two marriages ended in divorce.

However, Kris suggested she could wed again when she turns 70 on her reality show.

Last year, Kris revealed that she was initially sceptical about Corey’s intentions at the start of their relationship.

‘I used to say to Corey all the time when I first started dating him, like why do you want to date somebody who is older than you,’ she recalled in a confessional on an episode of The Kardashians.

She continued: ‘I didn’t get the age gap, and then he taught me that age is just a number. It’s a f**king big number, but it’s a number!’ 

Just two months ago Kris celebrated her 69th birthday.  

Priyanka Chopra

After two months of dating, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas – who have a 10-year age gap – got engaged in July 2018 (Seen in August)

Romance rumours began after they attended the 2018 Met Gala together – but Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’s love story actually began way before.

At that point, the pair had been linked for two years after Jonas slid into Priyanka’s DMs in 2016. 

After two months of dating, the couple – who have a 10-year age gap – got engaged in July 2018.

Less than a year later, the pair tied the knot in December and in January 2022, they welcomed their first child, Malti Marie, via surrogate.

In 2021, Priyanka revealed that early on in her romance with Nick she nearly put an end to things because of their age gap.

Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, Priyanka explained: ‘I really put a stop to it in a way because I judged the book by the cover. 

‘I said, “I wanna settle down. I have been there and done the fun dating things. was like ready to get serious”.’

The Indian actress turned 42 last July.