Celebs Who Say Age-Gap Relationships Supercharged Their Health

Age may be truly "just a number," but what happens when your age is far greater than your partner's? It's no problem, according to celebs who swear that having an age-gap relationship has been the key to a happier, healthier life. (That said, your body isn't the same after age 40 – sorry.)

Anyway, plenty of everyday people would likely agree. Pew Research reported that per 2022 data, the average heterosexual married couple only has a 2.2-year age gap. However, an American Community Survey cited by Flowing Data claims that 7% of husbands are at least 10 years older than their wives; meanwhile, just 1% of wives have a decade on their hubbies.

Yet the "older man, younger woman" standard may not be entirely accurate in the modern age. A 2025 study in PNAS looked at the romantic leanings of thousands of midlife individuals who went on two blind dates. A majority of the study's male and female daters preferred their younger blind date to the older one, meaning quite a few people care less about age than they do about romantic chemistry.

Whether or not you're a fan of an age disparity in a couple, you can't argue with success. And the following celebs probably wouldn't care, because they're too busy being in love.

How did legendary comedian Dick Van Dyke live to 100 years old? In a 2025 essay for The Times, he gave substantial credit to his wife, Arlene Silver, who is 46 years younger. "Every day she finds a new way to keep me up and moving, bright and hopeful and needed," he wrote of Silver.

During an interview posted on Instagram by People, Van Dyke joked that he was emotionally only 13, and that Silver was more mature. On a more serious note, he added that they'd "done a lot of dancing together." (Find out the healthy habit that helped Van Dyke live to 100.)

Science supports the idea that dancing can keep a person mentally more stable as the years pass. In fact, a 2012 article in Frontiers in Neuroscience suggests that you might be able to keep away the cognitive cobwebs by incorporating dance into your life.

If you want to see Cher brighten up, ask her about her romance with beau Alexander Edwards. Though he's 40 years younger, Cher told CBS Mornings in 2025, "We laugh all the time, and I just love him" (via E! News). For his part, Edwards seems to agree. In 2024, he referred to his relationship with Cher as being in "a happy family" (via Yahoo!). Presumably, that happiness includes giggles.

But could laughing actually be a secret to longevity? Yes, and that's not a joke. As a 2020 study in the Journal of Epidemiology revealed, people who laugh daily are less likely to die, especially of cardiovascular disease. Maybe that's why Cher is still vibrant at age 80. (Smiling counts, too — and you might be surprised to learn what happens to your body when you smile every day.)

In terms of May-December romances, George Clooney and wife Amal only have a 17-year age disparity. As Amal told E! News, they try to spend as much time together as possible. "We both work from home," she explained, "[We] try not to spend too much time apart when we're traveling." Clooney said likewise during a 2025 interview with The Irish Times: "We have to focus on the next 20, 25 years of making sure that we're jamming in everything we can."

Does togetherness lead to better health? Potentially, particularly in the mental health realm. According to a 2017 article in the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, intimate partner interconnectivity can encourage positive well-being as long as other stress factors aren't present.

Moreover, the mere act of having a companion can be beneficial to a person who's getting older. In a 2022 study in Gerontology, couples who spent time with one another also seemed to experience a higher degree of general well-being.

A 15-year age gap separates Elton John and his husband, David Furnish. And neither seems to care; in fact, Furnish has admitted he expects John to outlive him (via People). 

Now in their 60s and 70s, the couple seem to be more satisfied than ever, and Furnish explained why to Sky News in 2024: Their family, which includes two young sons. Said Furnish, "It's just an entire new journey of discovery that we're going on together." 

Meanwhile, John told Attitude Magazine in 2024 that having kids had made his life better. "We get better and better and better, but it's the children that just really inspire us and it's the most wonderful time of my life at the moment."

Though raising a family in your senior years may sound overwhelming, it could be a way to combat aging. As explained in a Psychology Today article, the act of bringing up kids when you're older focuses your mindset on activities that are associated with younger people. Therefore, you end up seeing yourself in a different light.

Do Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart come from different generations? Absolutely. But as Ford gushed during a 2023 film premiere, Flockhart grants him the time and energy to pursue his passion (via Access Hollywood on X). And he seems to place a lot of meaning on her willingness to give him space.

Getting job-related support can enhance psychological satisfaction, says a 2025 article in the Journal of Business Research. The piece explains that when one spouse shows support, the other spouse is more likely to get along with work mates. If true, that means Ford might have better working exchanges with his fellow castmates thanks to Flockhart's encouragement. Meanwhile, Flockhart doesn't dwell on their 22-year age gap. She even told Closer Weekly in 2017 that she "sometimes feel[s] very much older than Harrison."

A 26-year age disparity hasn't kept John Stamos from forging what seems to be a terrific relationship with wife Caitlin McHugh. As he asserted to People in 2017, "We have the same morals and the same values, that all clicked nicely."

McHugh seems to have the same view of the strength and makeup of their partnership, regardless of how much of an age gap they have. In a 2024 Fox News interview, she explained, "We spend a lot of time together. There's a lot of good communication and stuff." (She also gave Stamos some good-natured ribbing about his past dating life, but all in good fun.)

From a health standpoint, sharing values with a partner does seem to produce a more quality feeling in a relationship, according to a 2023 review in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Consequently, Stamos and McHugh may experience less stress due to being on the same wavelength.