"I was 23, and he was 86. I saw a very sick man. I just wanted to just talk with him. There was no physical attraction at all. He was very much attracted to me"
About this Quote
The subtext is all about power, but not in the direction people expect. In the tabloid imagination, the young model is the predator. Smith flips it: the older man is the one "very much attracted" to her. That isnt only an attempt to reclaim agency; its a way to recast the relationship as something that happened to her rather than something she engineered. She positions herself as a caregiver-witness - "I saw a very sick man" - which frames intimacy as compassion, almost civic duty, and makes the publics cynicism feel cruel.
Context matters because Smiths fame was built inside a media machine that monetized humiliation. This quote is a negotiation with that machine: she offers sincerity in a language shaped by scrutiny. The irony is that even her denial cant escape the script. By naming attraction at all, she confirms the story is ultimately about desire, bodies, and what society refuses to believe a woman like her could want: conversation, not currency.
Quote Details
| Topic | Romantic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Smith, Anna Nicole. (2026, January 17). I was 23, and he was 86. I saw a very sick man. I just wanted to just talk with him. There was no physical attraction at all. He was very much attracted to me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-23-and-he-was-86-i-saw-a-very-sick-man-i-62856/
Chicago Style
Smith, Anna Nicole. "I was 23, and he was 86. I saw a very sick man. I just wanted to just talk with him. There was no physical attraction at all. He was very much attracted to me." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-23-and-he-was-86-i-saw-a-very-sick-man-i-62856/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was 23, and he was 86. I saw a very sick man. I just wanted to just talk with him. There was no physical attraction at all. He was very much attracted to me." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-23-and-he-was-86-i-saw-a-very-sick-man-i-62856/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.





