More Celebs Are Choosing To Be Single In Their 60s And 70s – & Not Apologizing For It

The idea of a happily single woman in her sixties or seventies may perplex some people, but it's an increasingly common reality. Worldwide, women live an average of seven years longer than men, making widowhood an likelihood for many who are married. Furthermore, so-called "gray divorce" (that is, splits among seniors) is on the rise, and a projected one-third of men and women will never marry at all. All told, almost half of American women over 65 are single, so why shouldn't they make the best of it?

After all, some seriously glamorous celebrities are leading the charge when it comes to being senior, single, and not so eager to mingle. If they're loudly and proudly unpartnered, why shouldn't anyone else be? Whether women are newly single after a lifelong romance, independent for decades with a trail of divorces in their wake, or allergic to "I do," there's one thing besides a partner they're all unencumbered by: apologies.

When TV news icon Maria Shriver, 70 at the time of this report, found out her husband of 25 years, action star Arnold Schwarzenegger, had fathered a child with another woman during their marriage, she was devastated. Certainly, anyone would be wary of marriage after that. "I was consumed with grief and wracked with confusion, anger, fear, sadness, and anxiety," she wrote in her 2025 memoir "I Am Maria," as excerpted by People. However, "as I sat on my hotel room floor in the dark, alone with tears streaming down my face," she wrote, "I thought to myself: 'Maria, this doesn't have to be the end of you.'"

What followed was a 10-year separation before their divorce was finalized in 2021 and a long series of "trips to various therapists, healers, shamans, and psychics," after which Shriver joined the ranks of celebs touting the freedom of being single in your late sixties. "Your sixties are fantastic, and I was single in my sixties," she announced on a 2025 episode of "Today with Jenna & Friends," as quoted by People. "I loved being single, but other people had a big problem with it," she went on, explaining that loved ones frequently pestered her about her love life, convinced she couldn't be happy without a partner. Now, Shriver is open to love with a man, but she's not terribly pressed about finding one. "I think if a great man comes along, that's great, at any age," she told Today. "I'm kind of trying to be open and [say] yes to life in all its forms."

In 2020, 16 years after her second and most recent divorce, femme fatale extraordinaire Sharon Stone made the characteristic announcement that she was finished with men. "I just find people to be insincere and not worth my time, and I enjoy my alone time and my time with my kids and my friends more," Stone, 68 at the time of reporting, explained on "The Drew Barrymore Show." She went on to suggest that the gender as a whole is woefully lacking in the emotional maturity department, especially when it comes to senior dating. "I don't feel like men are at the same place that women are right now," she said. "I just feel like I don't need another kid." Don't hold back, Sharon!

By 2026, Stone's feelings about dating had softened somewhat, but she still had no qualms about declaring that, "for quite a long time, I've had no luck at all," on the "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown" podcast. While she's open to meeting the great love of her life, which she insists hasn't happened yet, "I just am at the point where I really only want to be with someone that I care for," she went on. "Now that my kids are grown, I want someone that's my companion." We love a discerning queen.

Andie McDowell is rewriting the script for choosing to be single in your sixties. On a 2024 episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," the 68-year-old (at the time of this report) declared that she was "so single," divulging to Barrymore that, when it comes to dating, "you get older and you care less, I hate to tell you." Like Maria Shriver, the only part she did care about was how much everyone else seemed to care. She "got really tired" of everyone asking her if she was seeing anyone, but fortunately, "people finally gave up," she said. "Now, nobody asks anymore, so it's nice."

For MacDowell, who had been twice divorced for 20 years at that point, partnering up is just not important on a personal or spiritual level. "We've had such evolution of who we are as human beings," she reasoned to Barrymore. "I do think that there is nothing wrong with being single. Really." She extolled the benefits of a romance-free social life, explaining that, "I have great female friends, and I have some male friends that I like, too," but admitted that she was pleasantly surprised by her positive response when a man flirted with her recently. "It's been a long time," she joked.

The world mourned when "The Crocodile Hunter" himself, Steve Irwin, was killed by a stingray in 2006 at the age of 44, but none more than his wife and Discovery Channel co-star, Terri Irwin, 62 (at the time of reporting). Decades later, she has no plans to replace him. "I had the best marriage in the whole world for 14 years, and I'm very comfortable with the person I see in the mirror," she told Us Weekly in 2024. "So I'm okay to be on my own now. And I'm lonely for Steve, but I'm not a lonely person, so I'm very lucky."

Part of the problem is that there simply isn't a man alive who could possibly live up to Terri's memories of her larger-than-life late husband. "While there are a lot of wonderful men in the world, can you see another Steve Irwin?" she continued. "I just can't. I'd be like, 'I love that you're a librarian and the [Dewey] decimal system is cool, but I got to go jump a crocodile and do that.' Forget that." But that suits Terri just fine. "I totally got my happily ever after," she insisted.

Sally Field, 79 at the time of this report, has such a warm on-screen presence that it might shock you to know that she's apparently not a huge fan of other people — or maybe just men. On a 2024 episode of "Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus," Field told the fellow actor that she couldn't imagine getting married again after two divorces and decades of singlehood because she just doesn't enjoy anyone's company that much. "It would certainly all depend on meeting somebody I wanted to spend more than 37 seconds with, and I can't imagine that either," she said.

Field went on to explain that "I was never really good at picking a partner for myself," and she doesn't blame her past partners for not being compatible. However, her description of the difficulty she's had finding "a partner to be with who would be loving and know me and not want to change me and also be challenging to me, but wouldn't be hoping that I would be less than what I am" suggests that they might be a tiny bit to blame. It's just as well, in that case, that she's not interested in partnering up again, because anyone who tries to clip Sally Field's wings will have her adoring public to contend with, and that could get messier than any divorce.