Cher, 78, shared that her relationship with Sonny Bono didn’t start with instant attraction. During an upcoming appearance on CBS Sunday Morning, Cher reflected on her love story with her late ex-husband while speaking with Anthony Mason.
Mason prompted Cher to recall their first meeting in 1962, at a coffee shop where Sonny was dressed in a mohair suit and mustard-colored shirt. Cher, smiling, added, “With a white collar and Beatle boots, but they were called Cuban.”
When asked about her initial impression of Bono, Cher likened it to the iconic moment in West Side Story when Tony meets Maria, saying, “I thought it was like when Tony met Maria. I mean, everybody disappeared.” However, despite the magical feeling, Cher confessed, “He didn’t like me.”
Cher opens up about her first meeting with Sonny Bono and how it wasn’t love at first sight
Cher clarified that it wasn’t love at first sight. “It was something,” she explained. “I never felt it before.” Their relationship began when the 16-year-old Cher agreed to work as the 27-year-old Bono’s housekeeper, which later developed into a romantic bond. Cher shared, “He liked my girlfriend.”
She added, “When I had to go live with him, he said, ‘You can come and stay with me,’ but also told me, ‘I don’t find you particularly attractive.’ So I was upset and happy at the same time.”
Mason questioned the 11-year age difference, to which Cher said that Bono’s “childish” nature helped him connect with her in a genuine way. “Because I didn’t expect anything. I didn’t want money. I didn’t think about anything, you know,” Cher explained.
Recalling how other women who pursued Bono at the time wanted him to behave more maturely, Cher shared a memory of spending time with him. “We got a candle and we just watercolored all day long. We [were] trying to get it right. And I don’t think those ladies wanted to do that.”
Sonny & Cher became a duo in 1964, the same year they married. The couple had their child, Chaz, in 1969, and divorced in 1975. Cher later revealed in a 2023 PEOPLE interview that Bono had “pissed me off royally and hurt me.”
Before his death in 1998, Bono reached out to Cher to offer an apology. “One day he came into the kitchen at my house and said, ‘Cher, I want to apologize. I realized that I hurt you in so many ways, and I was wrong,’” Cher recalled. “That went a long way for me.”
The full interview with Cher will air on CBS Sunday Morning on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. ET.
