To prepare for this story, I watched about half Chynna Phillips’ latest YouTube vlog. She opens by walking and talking to the camera, very rapidly, about what’s happening in her life and family. At about 3:40 in she does a baby impression before recounting one of her experiences giving birth. While her baby impression is quite good it kind of sums up her entire personality. I would have a hard time tolerating her socially and find her annoying af, but I’m sure she has fans. (I find many YouTubers annoying, so take that as you will.) She’s also a born again Christian and references Jesus and The Bible frequently.
Chynna, 56, is best known as part of the all female music group Wilson Phillips. She’s been married to Billy Baldwin, 61, since 1995 and they have three adult children, the youngest of whom is 20. Chynna’s latest video diary is making news because she revealed that she’s living separately from Billy, at her suggestion, but that they’re still together. Chynna’s personality aside, I’m sure a lot of women would like to have that arrangement. Here’s part of People’s writeup about this.
“Billy and I are sort of in this new kind of arrangement that is actually really working for me. I don’t know if it’s working for Billster, but I’m really happy with what we’re doing,” she begins, before adding, “Basically, it’s totally unstructured . . . let me explain.”
She continues, “I said to Billy, ‘Look, why don’t we just do a little test run to see what it feels like to have me in Santa Barbara, you in Beverly Hills, and then we flip-flop. Then in between, we have date nights together, we have therapy, we have dinner with the children and we go to the beach or the museum.”
The pair, who married in 1995, share three adult children together: daughters Jameson, 24, and Brooke, 19, and son Vance, 22.
The couple will spend a few days together when she says “we have sleepovers and stuff,” but they’re not “forcing ourselves to be subjected to each other’s energy 24/7.”
While her actor husband “is a bit more reticent about the whole thing,” Chynna notes that he was still willing to try out the new setup.
She later goes into more detail about the arrangement while on a FaceTime call with Billy, 61.
“I think that we’re onto something,” she tells her husband. “I really do, because we enjoy each other’s company. It’s so hard to articulate to people that we’re madly in love, we really enjoy being around one another, we cherish our marriage, we don’t ever want to separate. We just need a little time apart because we are sort of an allergy to one another. And it’s OK. I’m sure lots of different couples are allergies to each other.”
The actor cuts in, “The reality is you have the allergy, I have a certain energy that makes you have a— see, your back just tweaked just now.” He adds, “You do things that, you know, sort of alter my energy sometimes.”
She also tried to reconcile her fundie beliefs with living apart from her husband. She said “where in the Bible does it say that I have to live under the same roof, 24/7 with my husband? Can you please find me that scripture?” She then said she knows The Bible teaches that she has to submit to him, but that “I’ll submit when I’m around.” I mean, this is one way to gain your independence while technically adhering to antiquated Christian teachings that subjugate women. Billy is not religious like Chynna but explained that he goes to church and prays with her. He told her later in the video, on a video chat, that he adores her and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
Sometimes I think about the 2012 movie, Hope Springs, where Meryl Street and Tommy Lee Jones play a married couple who get their spark back. It’s kind of an older married woman’s fantasy and I remember thinking how unrealistic it was. People don’t change, but you can shift things by mixing it up. It must be nice to have the resources to live in an entirely different house than your spouse. So many rich and famous people do that and talk about how awesome it is. Barring that, I’ve heard that separate bathrooms and an extra bedroom help.
This might be the one time I have sympathy for a male Baldwin.
China has gone full tilt born again Christian, for awhile now.
I have a friend who is b-a also. Never stops yapping and quoting the Bible.
Can not have a 10 minute visit w/o her going off.
It is exhausting.
It becomes their entire personality and they constantly need to “save” you.
Poor Billy. Enjoy your quiet time on your own.
Please do not have sympathy for Billy Baldwin. He was the one that publicly supported convicted rapist brother in law Danny Masterson. He was the one that showed up in court and walked with him to the court house.
Chyna stayed quiet. But at least she did not use her platform to support him in any way. As far as I know. I haven’t seen her videos in awhile. There were entertaining at first in a is she really this far gone. Then it got tedious.
I have actually met her in person and she is a lot. And not in a good way.
I was a lot harsher in my first edit of this and I toned it down. I couldn’t get through this whole video.
Harsh is fair in this case though. The rules white evangelicals expect everyone else to live by don’t apply to them because their wealth insulates them from reality. Many of them also have this weird manic energy that is more mental illness and less religious devotion.
The particular people involved aside, I totally get this! I lived alone for about 20 years after university and my boyfriend and I even bought a house together ten years ago with him just here weekends and working away all week. He finally moved in during covid but we’re now back to him away 1-2 nights most weeks and I love it. I like my own space.
I think the more she slides into her hard core Christian conservative stance. My guess she is becoming more MAGA and he is a hardcore Democrat.
She has filed for divorce before and they reconciled. I guess this is the band-aid for divorce. Just live separately without spending money on lawyers. I remember one of her videos she spoke about being wiped out financially in the 2008 recession. And only a few years ago did they become first time home owners. They had always rented.
I hope she finds whatever spiritual awakening she needs to be happy. She’s kooky but harmless.
She’s pressuring him in the past to join her church, and be a leader. He loves her but doesn’t want that. Her fundamentalist church may try to match her with someone else. She has to be a Trumpster too or on the cusp. Those evangelicals love money and power…God, not so much.
Maybe she could compromise with him and let him go back to the catholic church. That’s how he was raised. There are plenty catholic democrats.
I can almost guarantee you that her b-a christianity and church “family” are pushing her to bring her entire family into that group.
Brainwashing, constantly telling her to only spend time with others who are saved, etc.
Very CoS like.
If they want to try living apart, their choice. But, believe me that b-a religion will kill any love between them eventually.
I fully expect next she’ll come out with some BS about “God has sent me a true Man, a true Christian man who I can walk my journey with” Ugh.
Good Luck, Billy. He looks sad and exhausted in that video snap. I think he is hoping he can be patient and willing to try, but it won’t work.
There is no reasoning with her, she is all in. Personality change, all part of born again, an entirely new being with my Jesus, etc.
I’ve seen it IRL so often.
Separate bedrooms and bathrooms work for us. Mr. Jaded is Type 1 diabetic and has a noisy insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, the things beep, boop and buzz a lot at which point he retires to bedroom 2. I’m dealing with cancer and have very broken sleep due to the meds I’m on. Even the cat bails on us.
She sounds really tiresome, I have trouble dealing with over-zealous B-A Christians who constantly push it in your face. I’m an intelligent grown person with my own spiritual beliefs that I don’t push on everyone else, just stop with the proselytizing.
In general, I think this could be a good compromise where a woman is going through menopause. Believe me, I wish my poor family had a second home to escape to when I was dealing with serious hormone/mood issues before HRT kicked in. It’s difficult, and you know you’re being an ass, but you can’t help it.
If we had the resources for a second home, I’m sure my family would have embraced it.
In her case specifically, however, it seems to be more about her religion and “journey” and I’m sure that’s difficult for her husband.