The gossip columns have not changed their subject matter. Scroll through any entertainment outlet and you will find the same recurring theme that has persisted for decades. Two famous people, separated by 15, 20, or even 30 years, appear at a premiere holding hands. Photographers capture the moment. Commentators weigh in. The public forms opinions.
This pattern has not faded in 2026. If anything, the couples drawing attention seem more comfortable addressing their age differences directly. Sarah Paulson told El País in May 2025 that “living by predetermined social norms is boring.” Cher, 39 years older than her partner, has offered similar sentiments in various interviews. George Clooney, in November 2025, described his wife Amal as “the most extraordinary human I’ve ever met.” None of these statements carry defensiveness. They read more like matter-of-fact explanations from people who have stopped caring about external commentary.
Hollywood Pairs With Decades Between Them
Celebrity couples with large age differences in relationships continue to fill tabloid pages in 2026. George and Amal Clooney, separated by 17 years, remain married after meeting in 2013. Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid began dating in late 2023 with a 20-year gap between them. Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor, 31 years apart, passed their tenth anniversary together.
A 2022 Ipsos poll found nearly 40 percent of Americans have dated someone with a notable age gap. Chris Evans and Alba Baptista, 16 years apart, welcomed a daughter in October 2025. Cher and Alexander Edwards maintain their relationship despite 39 years between them.
The Clooney Model
George and Amal Clooney have been together since 2013. They married in 2014. He was considered one of Hollywood’s most committed bachelors before meeting her at a dinner party. She was an accomplished human rights lawyer with degrees from Oxford and New York University.
Their 17-year age difference rarely becomes the focus of coverage about them anymore. The conversation has shifted to their foundation work, her legal cases, their twins. Time has a way of making age gaps less interesting to outside observers when a couple remains together year after year. The Clooneys have reached that point.
Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson
This pairing has drawn commentary since it began. Sam Taylor-Johnson directed Aaron in Nowhere Boy, a film about John Lennon’s teenage years, released in 2009. She was 42. He was 19. They married in 2012 and have two daughters together.
Sixteen years into their relationship, they remain a couple. Aaron has spoken about the public reaction in interviews over the years. He tends to express frustration with the scrutiny. Sam has been more reserved in her responses. Neither shows signs of addressing the topic differently now than they did a decade ago.
Paulson and Taylor
Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor went public with their relationship in 2015. The 31-year gap between them made headlines then. Paulson was 40. Taylor was 72.
Their approach to public commentary has been direct. Paulson’s statement to El País about social norms captures their general stance. They do not apologize for the relationship or frame it as unusual. They present it as what it is. A decade together supports their position.
The Newer Couples
Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid started appearing together in late 2023. He was 48. She was 28. The pairing generated the expected wave of articles about their age difference. Two years later, they remain together. Cooper, a father to a daughter from his previous relationship with Irina Shayk, has been photographed multiple times with Hadid in New York and at various events through 2025.
Chris Evans and Alba Baptista followed a different timeline. They dated privately before marrying in September 2023. The 16-year age gap received less attention than other aspects of their relationship, partly because they kept things quiet. Their daughter arrived in October 2025.
Cher and Alexander Edwards
One of the largest gaps among current celebrity couples belongs to Cher and Alexander Edwards. She is 79. He is 40. That is 39 years between them.
Cher has addressed questions about the relationship in her typical manner. She does not appear concerned with outside opinions. Edwards, a music producer, has also spoken about the pairing in interviews. They began dating in 2022 and continue to appear together at public events.
Public Attitudes
The Ipsos poll from 2022 provides some context. Nearly 40% of Americans reported having engaged in age-gap dating at some point. That number suggests these relationships are more common outside Hollywood than tabloid coverage might indicate.
Celebrity couples draw attention because they are celebrities. The age gap becomes part of their public story. For ordinary people, the same dynamic plays out without photographers or think pieces. The poll numbers indicate that a substantial portion of the population has firsthand knowledge of what these relationships involve.
What Remains Constant
The couples mentioned here span different industries within entertainment. Actors, directors, producers, models, musicians. Their age gaps range from 16 to 39 years. Some have been together for over a decade. Others started more recently.
None have expressed plans to address the age conversation differently. The statements they give remain consistent. Paulson calls social norms boring. Clooney calls his wife extraordinary. Cher continues to be Cher.
The tabloids will keep covering these relationships. The couples will keep responding, or not responding, as they see fit. The pattern holds in 2026, and nothing suggests it will break anytime soon.
