{"id":8654,"date":"2025-02-28T15:10:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T15:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=8654"},"modified":"2025-02-28T15:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T15:10:13","slug":"billy-baldwin-says-sacrifice-saved-his-marriage-after-living-apart-from-wife-chynna-phillips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2025\/02\/billy-baldwin-says-sacrifice-saved-his-marriage-after-living-apart-from-wife-chynna-phillips.html","title":{"rendered":"Billy Baldwin Says \u2018Sacrifice\u2019 Saved His Marriage After Living Apart From Wife Chynna Phillips"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Featureflash Photo Agency \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Billy Baldwin acknowledges he’s not a relationship guru.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Baldwin shared insights into how he has navigated the challenging moments in his 30-year marriage to Chynna Phillips.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very lucky. You know, I think to be successful in a relationship, you have to have chemistry. You have to have luck. Definitely. And you have to be willing to work. You have to be willing to sacrifice,\u201d Baldwin said.<\/p>\n

In November, Phillips, the daughter of the Mamas & the Papas co-founders John and Michelle Phillips, posted a video on her faith-oriented YouTube channel California Preachin, where she revealed she was living separately from Baldwin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly and I are sort of in this new kind of arrangement that is actually really working for me,\u201d she explained. \u201cI don’t know if it’s working for \u2018Billster,\u2019 but I’m very happy with what we’re doing and basically, it’s totally unstructured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips said she proposed the idea to her husband as a test run. Her plan was to live in Santa Barbara while Baldwin stayed in Beverly Hills, and they would switch locations. She also suggested that during their time together, they could go on dates, enjoy recreational activities, and spend time with family.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2024, Phillips and Baldwin chose to live together again, with Phillips admitting it was probably a very foolish, very unwise, very destructive, stupid decision.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Baldwin offered some guidance for couples who haven’t yet reached the 30-year milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned this in a couple’s therapy session one time,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe therapist said to Chynna, ‘What’s the one thing you need? I don’t want a list. I just want to know one thing. How are you not being fed? What do you need from Billy? I want to come back in two weeks, and we’ll revisit this with Billy. What’s the one thing you need?’\u201d And then they said to me, \u201c’What’s the one thing you need from Chynna?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that’s such a weird, simple [thing] and it’s not easy. It sounds so simple, but it’s not. It can be challenging to be consistent. And I said to my wife, ‘You don’t even have to be good at this. You could fall on your face every day. You could face plant and fail, but if you try, it would mean the world to me.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Baldwin’s most important advice is to consistently nourish the relationship and provide your partner with what they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sound like a PhD or a couple’s counselor. I suck at it, too, but I’m trying. I’m trying, baby,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Phillips and Baldwin were married in 1995 and have three grown children \u2014 daughters Jameson, Brooke, and son Vance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy Baldwin acknowledges he’s not a relationship guru. In a recent interview, Baldwin shared insights into how he has navigated the challenging moments in his 30-year marriage to Chynna Phillips. \u201cI was very lucky. You know, I think to be successful in a relationship, you have to have chemistry. You have to have luck. Definitely.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":8657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBilly Baldwin Says \u2018Sacrifice\u2019 Saved His Marriage After Living Apart From Wife Chynna Phillips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Billy Baldwin opens up about marriage, admitting that sacrifice, luck, and effort helped him and Chynna Phillips navigate their challenges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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