Before she was famous, Jennifer Aniston used to hang out with this showbiz icon as a teen

For Jennifer Aniston, hanging out at her friend’s house wasn’t quite as relatable as other teenagers

Jennifer Aniston's teenage friend had quite the famous mom
(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

From the iconic Rachel Green to her many hit movies, Jennifer Aniston has been one of our favorite stars for decades now.

She’s long felt like someone we’ve welcomed into our homes – and our outfit inspiration thanks to her latest sheer mini dress - but before she was a fixture in movies and television, she had an early brush with fame when she was welcomed into someone else’s home.


Cher’s home, to be precise.

Cher's son, Chaz Bono, and Jennifer Aniston were friends as teenagers

(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

That’s right, even before the Friends star broke into acting, she was mingling with Hollywood’s elite.

Jennifer revealed her surprising connection to Cher during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan.

As a teen, Jen attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in New York City where Cher’s son Chaz Bono also attended.

She explained, “Well I went to high school with Chaz and amongst our group of, our gaggle, we would always go to [Cher’s] house because it was nice. It was Cher.”

We imagine sleepovers at Cher’s were a bit different…

When probed about what Cher’s home was like for a teenage Jennifer Aniston and friends, the Murder Mystery 2 actress recalls that there were “beautiful windows” with “chiffon curtains” and that Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones lived next door at the time.

She went on to say, “It was just wild and wonderful cause we didn't really know Cher. We were little kids in high school, though I guess you understand a little bit at that point. It was just fun to be able to hang out with Cher.”

Cher has joked about Jennifer Aniston eating all her snacks before

(Image credit: Getty)

While it was Cher’s interior design that Jennifer recalled first (which isn’t surprising, as the Emmy winner has previously said that she’d love to have been an interior decorator had she not gone into acting), there was plenty other happy memories Jen has of that time.

It turns out, nobody does snacks quite like Cher. “Yes, she had food, from Balducci's, as she likes to say. And she seems to think I ate it all,” she explained. “She would always go, ‘Yeah, you ate me out of house and home.’ And I was like, ‘How was I the only one partaking in the cold cuts!’”

Kelly Ripa asked the question we’d all want to ask somebody who had been inside Cher’s home – what was the closet like?

While playing coy, Jen did confess that she “might have taken a peek.”

Jennifer Aniston's father was a soap legend

(Image credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Jennifer and Chaz probably bonded at school over the fact that their parents were in the business.

While Cher is, well, Cher, Jennifer’s family weren’t strangers to showbusiness themselves.

Jen’s father, John Aniston was a daytime soap actor who played Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama series Days of Our Lives.

He originated the role in 1985, proving so popular that he remained a fixture on the soap on and off for 37 years.

John played the role up until his death in 2022.

Jack Slater
Freelance writer

Jack Slater is not the Last Action Hero, but that's what comes up first when you Google him. Preferring a much more sedentary life, Jack gets his thrills by covering news, entertainment, celebrity, film and culture for woman&home, and other digital publications.

Having written for various print and online publications—ranging from national syndicates to niche magazines—Jack has written about nearly everything there is to write about, covering LGBTQ+ news, celebrity features, TV and film scoops, reviewing the latest theatre shows lighting up London’s West End and the most pressing of SEO based stories.