Charlize Theron has been making headlines – for some very candid sex confessions. The 49-year-old actress revealed all on Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, and said she’d recently enjoyed a night of passion with a younger man. ‘I’m sounding very cocky here, but I think it’s because I found this freedom in my forties where I’m like, “Oh my god,” so I just want to say this in perspective,’ she said. ‘I’ve probably had three one-night stands in my entire life, but I did just recently fuck a 26-year-old. It was really fucking amazing and I’ve never done that. I was like, “Oh, this is great.”’

Of course, the same as when any woman in the public eye confidently speaks about her sex life, some have attempted to slut-shame her, with one post on X calling ‘crude’ and ‘objectifying’. And there have even been comments criticising the age gap. But honestly? Good for her. At 49 and 26, they’re both adults – and needless to say, she’s only doing what men in Hollywood have done for generations, have casual sex with people younger than them.

But that wasn’t all Charlize spoke about in the bedroom department. She also stressed how important it is to advocate for yourself during sex – something we couldn’t agree with more. ‘Women who come across as confident and outspoken tend to also be, in bed, people who wanna please males,’ she explained. ‘Isn’t it strange? We should be the ones that are like, “Fuck you, I’m gonna have an orgasm.” My advice would be this: Don’t fucking do that. For two reasons, you’re going to have better orgasms and your man is going to like that.’

Though she spoke about her recent encounter, Charlize said she doesn’t have a lot of casual sex. ‘I sound like I’m sitting here sounding like I do,’ she said. ‘So when I do, I’m like, “Oh, fuck yeah, I should have done this in my 20s.”’ But, she says, the reason she’s embracing it all now is because she finally has the space to do so. ‘I was married from the time that I was, like, having sex to the time that I had my last relationship,’ she added. ‘Then I had children. Who has fuck time for dates and shaving and waxing and makeup? And, like, I’ve got two children that have to go to school.’

The actor also credited her daughters Jackson, 12, and August, 9, with being the most important relationship in her life. ‘It’s the thing that you don’t quite realize until you have kids,’ she said. ‘I’m not saying that it replaces one love with the other, but it’s such a tremendous love that I do not miss love. I might miss sex, but I’m not missing a relationship.’

Charlize first adopted Jackson in 2012, and then later welcomed August to the family in 2015. In 2018, she told People she’s always seen herself adopting kids. ‘Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners, that adoption was how my family would look one day,’ she said. ‘This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first.’

And speaking with Alex, she revealed she’s not going to have a man live with her while her daughters are growing up. ‘I can tell that no man’s moving into our house while my daughters are there,’ she added.

In previous interviews, Charlize has long been honest about the fact she doesn’t ever want to get married. But she has been in long-term relationships. She was with Oscar winner Sean Penn from 2013-2015, after they were friends for two decades. And she was also with Irish actor Stuart Townsend for a decade, after they met while working on the 2002 film Trapped. (Charlize didn’t tie the knot with Stuart, but they did call each other husband and wife and wore commitment rings.)

Though her two most famous exes might have been actors, it seems Charlize has now widened her dating pool, as when Alex asked if she’d date ‘a man in the industry’, Charlize admitted she didn’t think it was ‘a smart thing’ for her. ‘I’m not saying it’s impossible,’ she said. ‘I’m not saying that it’s not binary. I just think that in general it’s not a good thing for me.’

So Charlize has been single for a while – but, knowing her worth, she’s not prepared to settle. ‘You gotta come with a lot of game,’ she explained, speaking about her approach to dating on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021. ‘The kind of game that’s like, “My life is really good, so you better be able to bring that and maybe better because I won’t accept anything less.” My life with my children and my incredible adopted family that I have around me, I don’t long for that much.’

Charlize’s attitude to sex and dating is one we can all get behind: don’t accept less than you deserve.