Sex and the City star Kristin Davis recently revealed she was genuinely surprised to learn how old the characters on the classic sitcom The Golden Girls were meant to be — and her reaction is making fans laugh. During an episode of her Are You a Charlotte? podcast, Davis shared that she assumed the women on the beloved 1980s series were around 80 years old, only to find out they were actually portrayed as much younger, mostly in their 50s.
The revelation came up in a conversation with guest Jenna Bush Hager, when the topic turned to comparing Sex and the City and The Golden Girls, two shows often discussed in the context of female-led television. Davis admitted she didn’t realize how similar the age ranges were, at least in concept. “I thought they were 80,” she said with a laugh, reacting to the fact that the original characters, Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche, were intended to be in their 50s when the sitcom began in 1985.
Davis’s surprise speaks to how television and audience perceptions of age have changed over the decades. When The Golden Girls premiered, the idea of a sitcom centered on women in their 50s was itself notable, and makeup and costuming often emphasized age in ways that now feel exaggerated to modern viewers.
On The Golden Girls, the characters navigated life, love, and friendship with humor and heart, set against the backdrop of Miami retirement life. Though the cast members themselves were older (with some actresses in their early 60s portraying women in their 50s), the way the show presented their ages, often with white hair and grandmotherly wardrobes, left the impression to many that they were much older than they actually were.
Davis’s candid reaction isn’t just funny – it also highlights how cultural perceptions of age, especially for women in entertainment, have shifted significantly since the 1980s. Shows like Sex and the City and its revival And Just Like That… have brought conversations about age, visibility, and representation back into the spotlight, showing that leading women in their 50s and beyond can still be at the center of popular storytelling.
Her comment quickly generated buzz online as fans revisited the idea that their mental image of The Golden Girls cast’s age may not match the characters’ intended ages, a mix of nostalgia and reevaluation that’s become common as classic shows get fresh attention in the streaming era.
