:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/Pam-Byse-Morris-Chestnut-NAACP-Image-Awards-100625-4316ff6c4aa0443881f9bd183dcaf828.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "Morris Chestnut Reveals the Secret of His Decades-Long Marriage (Exclusive)")
Need to know
- Morris Chestnut married Pam Byse in 1995
- While chatting with people at Culture Con on Oct. 4, the actor revealed the secrets to his long-term marriage
- “We mainly have respect, and we have a lot of similar interests,” he says
Morris Chestnut shares the key to his long-term marriage.
The actor, 56, celebrated 30 years of marriage to his wife, Pam Byse, this year. While chatting with people at Culture Con in New York City on Saturday, October 4, Chestnut revealed some of the pillars of her successful relationship: respect and mutual growth.
“Look, honestly, I wish I had the secret. Honestly, I do. I think at the end of the day, we have a lot of respect for each other, and we’ve continued to maintain the amount of respect,” Chestnut tells People.
Eric Charbonneau/Paramount via Getty
THE Watson Star adds that he and his wife – who he tied the knot with in 1995 – were “very lucky to grow up together” instead of growing apart.
“I think we just had the chance to grow up together. And we can’t control that,” he says. “You hope as a person and growing, you’re different in your 30s from your 20s. You hope you’re different in your 40s from your 40s in your 30s. And we are, and we’ve grown, but we just manage to grow together rather than apart. And I can’t really say we’ve controlled that.”
He adds that having “similar interests” helps with their compatibility.
“We mainly have respect and we have a lot of similar interests,” he says.
The notoriously private couple share two adult children, son Grant and daughter Paige.
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In February, Chestnut bragged about his “amazing” wife to Gasoline.
“She keeps the house up. She allows me to be able to go out and go to a job, and just be able to focus on work. I know the house is kept up,” Chestnut said at the time. “I mean, I’m literally just, I go to the house, I sleep, and I wake up, and I eat, and she manages everything. Like, everything in the house she manages.”
Byse added that it “feels really good” to be married to Chestnut.
“Like he was very, very supportive,” she said. “I feel protected by him. I don’t have any stress when he leaves the house. It feels really good.”
