EXCLUSIVE: Cher's SHOCKING First Meeting with Father Who Abandoned Her — and How a Simple Question About His $1,000 Alligator Shoes Finally Healed Their Bitter Rift
Cher detailed her bizarre first meeting with her birth father after he abandoned her and her mom.
Cher has finally spilled the shocking details of her first encounter with the father who abandoned her as a young child.
The Believe singer felt as if she had found her "missing puzzle piece" when meeting her long-lost father at age 11, RadarOnline.com can reveal – despite the shocking reunion kicking off with her grilling him about his flashy shoes.
The singer revealed she first asked her brith father a question about his shoes when meeting him for the first time.
In Part 1 of her bombshell memoir, Cher, 78, first explained how her birth father – Johnnie Sarkisian – abandoned her and her mother when she was a toddler, leaving her to just remember him as a "shadowy figure from the past".
Cher's mom, Georgia, remarried several times – but her divorce from a billionaire husband hit society pages, prompting Sarkisian to reach out to the woman and family he left over a decade prior.
Cher's birth father left her family when she was just a young child and reached back out to her mother over a decade later.
In the book, Cher recalled her mom sitting her down at the age of 11 and asking if she would be alright with meeting Sarkisian, making it seem like the "most normal thing in the world".
While the singer already referred to another one of her mom's exes as her real dad, she agreed.
Cher wrote: "Although I had no burning desire to see him, there was a tiny part of me that had always been curious."
The hitmaker said her mom dressed her in "her Sunday best", recalling the next day when she opened the door to see her birth father standing before her.
Immediately, Cher said she noticed the physical similarities between them.
"There was a sense of recognition at the genetic link between us because in him I saw my own olive skin and heart-shaped mouth.
"With thick dark eyebrows and almond-shaped brown eyes, he bore an uncanny resemblance to my favorite actor, Victor Mature, whom I'd always been a sucker for."
After laying eyes on Cher, Sarkisian asked Georgia: "So, this is my baby?"
Cher then admitted the hilarious first thing she ever said to her birth father – a question regarding his loafers.
She looked at his feet and asked: "What are they made of?"
Sarkisian replied: "Alligator", which Cher followed up with a question regarding their price.
She admitted: "These were the first few words I ever spoke to my father, and he hadn't even stepped a well-heeled foot across the threshold."
- EXCLUSIVE: Cher Spills Shocking Details of First 'Meet-Cute' with Sonny Before Their Tumultuous Marriage – Including Songwriter's Attempt To Seduce Her Gay Friend
- Cher Left 'Shattered' by Ex Sonny's Bitter Divorce Battle to Claim Full Custody of Their Son Chaz — and How it Was Sparked by Playboy Mansion Visit
- Inside Cher’s Agonizing Break-Up With Sonny: Diva, 78, Reveals How Kiss From Young Guitarist Ended It — and Tells How Split Nearly Drove Her to Suicide
DAILY. BREAKING. CELEBRITY NEWS. ALL FREE.
Cher admitted to feeling like she found a missing puzzle piece when meeting her birth father.
Without flinching, Sarkisian said his shoes chose $1,100, which "floored" Cher at the time. She added: "Even at that tender age, I couldn't help but think that there was something unusual about his wearing alligator loafers."
As her father stayed for dinner, Cher said she couldn't help but focus on his mannerisms and how many were like her own.
She explained: "Johnnie stayed for dinner, and I watched him with fascination. He seemed relaxed, easygoing, and even-tempered, like me.
"I also noticed that he ate very slowly, as I did. Mom had always been upset with me for what she called 'dawdling' over my food, but when I saw him I thought, Yes, I'm vindicated!, because here Johnnie was.
"I had a new father and he played with his food too. Watching him, I understood that the reason Mom sometimes looked at me strangely was that he and I both had the same little half-smile."
Cher said she "took all these connections in stride for the most part", but still "watched him closely" – slowly coming to the realization he was the "missing puzzle piece" in her life.
She added: "What I saw in him was the part of me that I could never explain before, because I'd never seen it in anyone else in my family. The thing you can't know unless you meet your other parent.
"This man walked in and it was like a missing puzzle piece for me. He did things intentionally and quietly like I did. He wasn't quick to anger."
However, Cher knew she wouldn't be able to ever consider Sarkisian her father, as she had already given that title to another man who was present for most of her childhood.
She wrote: "Even though I knew that I was Johnnie's child, it was hard for me to think of him as my father. He was some other word that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"My brain was full of complicated thoughts, some of which conflicted with the love I still felt for my daddy."
Cher's explosive memoir details her rollercoaster marriage to Sonny Bono.
Cher's newly released memoir is packed with other shocking stories from her youth, including details of her affair, suicidal thoughts during her marriage to Sonny Bono, partying with a drunken John Lennon at the Playboy Mansion, and sharing a smooch with Hollywood icon Warren Beatty at just 15 years old.
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email RadarOnline.com at tips@radaronline.com.