On the latest episode of YouTuber Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date, Cher gamely parries jokey questions about where she would go if she could turn back time (age 40, “It was pretty good”) and if she believes in life after love (“Yeah, but it’s rough”), but there’s only one question that evokes true disgust from the singer: “Do you like chicken nuggets?” Dimoldenberg inquires. “Not—at—all!” Cher says, contempt furrowing her brow. She starts to say something about how they’re “inundated,” and the camera cuts to a scene from the kitchen.
“I’m not actually happy to be here,” she says in the beginning, looking around a U.K. chicken joint, “but I’m actually happy to join you.”
Like most of Dimoldenberg’s “dates,” her meal with Cher goes pretty well, and Cher seems to have a good time chatting about dating younger men, singing “tips” (joke quotes because Cher’s answer was singing for Phil Spector), and her preference for a real Christmas tree (“Christmas doesn’t last that long”). Cher also revealed that she “stole a car once,” but once again, the camera cuts away too quickly to get the whole story. (But of course, that’s not the point. The point is watching Cher, age 77, find common ground with a 29-year-old in spite of her utter disdain for small, fried pieces of poultry.)
The funniest moment comes when Dimoldenberg and Cher agree that the most important part of dating is kissing. “You know, if they can’t kiss, forget all the other stuff,” Cher says, shaking her head earnestly.
“I once had a really, really terrible kiss with a guy who didn’t really open his mouth,” Dimoldenberg confides.
“English?” Cher asks.
“Yeah.”
“OK,” Cher rejoins, shrugging as if to say, “Question asked, question answered.” But even then, she didn’t look as nauseous as she did while considering square inches of white meat chicken coated in panko and seasoning and then deep-fried to golden perfection.
All Cher eats on camera during the five-minute clip is one-and-a-half French fries.
Over the past few years, Dimoldenberg has interviewed Jennifer Lawrence, Shania Twain, Phoebe Bridgers, and many other people, none of whom mind sitting in a nugget joint with her. Earlier this month, she and Hot Ones’ Sean Evans met to swap stories about what it’s like feeding celebrities.