Cher gave fans an unexpected update on Wednesday, December 3 after she made a surprise phone call into The Today Show to wish Amanda Seyfried a "happy 40th birthday". Cher, who played Amanda's flamboyant grandmother, Ruby Sheridan, in the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, emphasized their enduring friendship, with Cher joking that she "wouldn't get up for anybody this early".
Amanda was joined by her The Housemaid co-star Sydney Sweeney for the segment, but when co-host Willie Geist playfully encouraged Cher to sing for Amanda, the legendary vocalist hesitated, explaining that she had recently seen her doctor and was currently "not in my best voice, before joking: "Just remember, I sing." Watch the video above.
Amanda appeared genuinely choked up, sharing with Cher: "I love you. I'm better now [that I've spoken to you,] I'm missing you."
Cher played Ruby, the grandmother of Amanda's Sophie, in the 2018 sequel to Mamma Mia! which followed Sophie as she worked to reopen her family’s Greek island hotel after the death of her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep).
Cher's health battles have been long documented: in the 1990s she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) after she contracted the Epstein–Barr virus. CFS, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a complex illness characterized by severe, debilitating fatigue that doesn't improve with rest. The exact cause remains unknown, but it is thought to involve a combination of factors like infections, genetic susceptibility, and abnormalities in the nervous and immune systems.
"I was sick a long time," she told USA Today in 2008. "I went to Germany for some medicine and treatment. They have things overseas we never dreamed existed. When I was first diagnosed in the late '80s, I had doctors telling me I was crazy. I was sick constantly and almost died from pneumonia. You never lose it, and it really takes the life out of you.
Cher is a mother of two, welcomed son Chaz Bono, 56, with ex-husband, Sonny Bono, and Elijah Blue Allman, 49, with ex-husband, Gregg Allman.
She has been in a relationship with boyfriend, Alexander "AE" Edwards, 39, for three years and earlier in November Cher addressed the significant 40-year age difference in an interview with Gayle King for CBS Mornings.
"Whatever. They're not living my life. Nobody knows what goes on between us, but we just have a blast," she explained, adding that Alexander wasn't worried about the 40-year gap either. 'He just says, 'You know, you get older, but your spirit is younger,'" she shared. "We laugh all the time, you know? I just love him. I think he's beautiful. He's really talented. He's one of the most talented persons I've ever met."
The music executive shares six-year-old son, Slash, with his ex-partner, Amber Rose.