Drew Barrymore is drawing a hard line on age gaps, and she is not sugarcoating it. The actor and talk show host, now 50, told her audience that the idea of dating a man in his twenties does not just feel unlikely, it actively turns her off and “just feels wrong.” Her blunt take lands right in the middle of a culture obsessed with age-gap romances, and it is sparking a fresh round of debate about what “too young” really looks like when you are a famous single mom in midlife.
Instead of playing coy about her preferences, Barrymore laid out a clear boundary, explaining that she is “totally grossed out” by the thought of going out with someone decades younger. Coming from a star who has grown up in public and has been candid about everything from sobriety to single parenting, the comment reads less like a stunt and more like a woman who knows exactly what she wants, and what she absolutely does not.
What Drew Barrymore Actually Said On Her Show
On her daytime set, Drew Barrymore did not hedge when the topic of younger men came up. She said flatly that she would never date a man in his twenties and that she is “totally grossed out by that,” making it clear this is a firm dealbreaker, not a passing joke. The actor, who is 50, framed it as a gut-level reaction, explaining that the age gap is not just big, it crosses a line for her sense of what feels appropriate, which is why she described the idea as something that “just feels wrong” rather than simply “not my type.” Her comments were delivered with her usual mix of humor and candor, but the message was unmistakable: a twenty‑something is off the table.
That clarity fits with how Barrymore has talked about dating in midlife before. She has acknowledged using a dating app and being open to meeting people, but she has also been upfront that certain boundaries are non‑negotiable. In this case, she spelled out that a man in his twenties is not just unlikely, he is a nonstarter, a point echoed in coverage that notes how she told her audience she would “never date a man in his 20s” and is “totally grossed out by that” on her show. That kind of language might sound harsh, but it also signals that she is not interested in pretending a huge age gap would be fun or flattering just because she is a celebrity who could probably make it happen.
Why A Twenty‑Something ‘Feels Wrong’ To Her
Barrymore’s choice of words, saying the idea “grosses her out” and “seems wrong,” points to something deeper than simple preference. She is a mother of two daughters and a woman who has been in the industry since childhood, and that history appears to shape how she sees a man in his twenties. To her, that age bracket is not a pool of potential partners, it is the age of people who feel closer to her kids’ future peers than to her own, which helps explain why she reacts so strongly. She is not critiquing twenty‑something men as people, she is saying that, for her, the power dynamics and life stages involved would feel off.
Reporting on her comments notes that she framed the age gap as something that simply does not sit right with her values, even as she joked with her audience about the topic. In coverage that recaps the segment, she is quoted as saying she is “totally grossed out by” the idea and that dating someone that young “seems wrong,” language that appears in detailed write‑ups of the exchange with her studio crowd and her team on set. That framing matters, because it shows she is not chasing a headline about “cougars” or older‑woman fantasies, she is drawing a moral and emotional line that feels grounded in her own life experience.
The Dating App Dealbreaker And That ‘Football Player’ Moment
Barrymore has not been shy about saying she uses a dating app, which puts her in the same digital trenches as everyone else swiping through profiles. What sets her apart is how openly she talks about the rules she has built for herself inside that world. She has described having a clear cutoff when she scrolls, and her recent comments about twenty‑something men make it obvious that age is one of those filters. The idea of matching with someone who is still figuring out their first serious job or apartment, while she is juggling a talk show and raising kids, is not just unappealing to her, it is a hard no.
One anecdote that has surfaced in coverage of her remarks involves a younger man who apparently tried to charm her by leaning into his athlete vibe. In a recap of the segment, Barrymore is described reacting to a story about a younger “football player” type, a detail that underlines how she sees that whole category of much younger, hyper‑confident men as a mismatch for where she is in life on the app. Instead of being flattered, she treated it as another example of why she is steering clear of anyone whose age starts with a two, no matter how charming their messages might be.
How Her Audience Reacted To The Age‑Gap Line
Part of what makes Barrymore’s show work is the way she turns personal confessions into a group conversation, and this moment was no different. When she laid out her “no twenties” rule, the audience laughed, but there was also a sense of recognition, especially from viewers closer to her age who know what it feels like to be matched with someone a generation younger. The back‑and‑forth with her co‑hosts and guests, captured in detailed recaps of the taping, shows her leaning into the absurdity of a 50‑year‑old woman trying to build a real relationship with a man who might still be figuring out his college loans on camera.
Coverage of the episode notes that she has “previously revealed that she uses a dating app” and that, during the taping, she framed this age cutoff as one of her core rules during the segment. The reaction in the room, as described in those accounts, suggests that while some people might roll their eyes at the word “gross,” plenty of viewers understand the instinct to protect yourself from situations that feel lopsided from the start. Barrymore’s comfort joking about it in front of a live audience also signals that she is not worried about being judged for having a boundary that might clash with Hollywood’s usual script about older men and younger women.
What Her Stance Says About Dating In Your 50s
Barrymore’s comments land in a culture where age‑gap relationships are constantly dissected, but they flip the usual script. Instead of an older man defending his choice to date a woman in her twenties, this is a 50‑year‑old woman saying she does not want that power imbalance in her own life. Reports that spell out her age, noting that “Drew Barrymore, 50, says she’d never date a man in his 20s,” underline how central that number is to the conversation about her rule. She is not trying to pretend she is the same age as the people sliding into her DMs, and she is not interested in being someone’s midlife fantasy either.
In another account of the exchange, the moment is framed as part of a playful conversation where someone asked about dating younger and she laughed while holding her ground with the audience. That mix of humor and firmness is part of why her stance resonates. She is not shaming anyone who makes a different choice, she is modeling what it looks like to say, out loud, that your comfort and your sense of what is appropriate matter more than flattery or attention. For a lot of people navigating midlife dating, that might be the most relatable part of the whole conversation.
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