Mackenzie Phillips has revealed she has been celibate for 15 years, and she is not the only Hollywood veteran making that admission public. Sharon Stone and Teri Hatcher have both recently opened up about periods of sexual abstinence, with Hatcher saying she has not been on a date in seven years.
Phillips made the confession on an upcoming episode of Valerie Bertinelli’s “Getting Naked” podcast. The actress, 66, explained that her social energy runs low after a busy day.
“I would get home, and I would have no words left, you know, and so in order to get up and do it again the next day, I had to be alone to recharge,” she said, per People. “Which is, by the way, why — am I going to say this out loud? I have been celibate for 15 years.”
Phillips Explains Why She Stopped
Phillips went on to describe her reasons for the break. She said she has “had enough sex to last for several lifetimes for several people.”
“And the parts of me that were injured or wounded, I can care for them myself,” she said before noting that she doesn’t date. “I have my little friend in the bedside drawer.”
Bertinelli, who hosts the podcast, confided that “there was nothing wrong with being celibate.” Phillips also mentioned that she first married music manager Jeff Sessler for two years before their divorce in 1981. She then married guitarist Shane Fontayne for 14 years before splitting in 2000.
Her third marriage, to Keith Levenson, ended in divorce two years later in 2005.
Stone Says She Has Been Celibate Too
Stone, the “Basic Instinct” star, recently admitted on Mayim Bialik’s “Breakdown” podcast that she has chosen a path of celibacy. Her comments came in response to a question about her dating history.
“I’m a really good girlfriend, but I haven’t been a girlfriend in a long time,” Stone said. “And I’ve been a girlfriend to bad boyfriends, and I’ve been a girlfriend to good boyfriends.”
She noted that she is now looking for “someone that’s my companion, not just someone to have sex with.” “I’m kind of bored with that,” she said of casual flings. “I’m in the no luck at all phase right now,” she added, calling it “the phase you need to be willing to be in to have the thing that I really want.”
Bialik asked if Stone had “a great love” of her life. The “Total Recall” star answered that she has had loves but not the great love.
“I have had loves in my life, but I don’t think I’ve had the great love of my life,” she said.
Hatcher Confesses Seven Years Without Dating
Teri Hatcher, 61, told HELLO! that she has not been on a date in seven years. The “Desperate Housewives” actress said she is “absolutely” single, even as she keeps an open heart.
“Oh my god, I’m so single. I go through life with an open heart and I would never say never, but I don’t date,” she confessed. “I don’t go on dates, I don’t look to go on dates. I haven’t been on a date in … I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say seven years.”
She added that she has a large community of friends. “Most of my girlfriends who are my age I’ve known for at least 30 years, and they’re mostly married,” she said.
Hatcher said she once dated a British man but found there “really isn’t a new source of people.” She admitted that meeting someone at a charity event rarely works.
“Sometimes if I go to a charity event, I’ll think, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll meet a like-minded person that cares about curing cancer,’ but I don’t,” she said.
A Pattern Across Three Careers
Phillips, Stone, and Hatcher all share a pattern: a history of relationships followed by a period of intentional distance from romance. Phillips’s 15-year figure is the number that stands out, and she framed it as a matter of self-care.
Hatcher’s seven-year dating gap shows that the pattern cuts across age and experience.
| Actress | Years of celibacy | Known marriages |
|---|---|---|
| Mackenzie Phillips | 15 years | Sessler (1981), Fontayne (2000), Levenson (2005) |
| Sharon Stone | Recently admitted | Greenburg (1990), Bronstein (2004) |
| Teri Hatcher | Seven years without dating | Liethold (1989), Tenney (2003) |
The Question of Romance
The three women have all been married multiple times. They have all faced questions about their relationship status. Now they are answering those questions in a way that is honest, if unexpected.
Phillips’s admission is the most explicit. She named the number and said it out loud on a public podcast. Stone and Hatcher both used softer language — “haven’t been a girlfriend in a long time,” “haven’t been on a date in seven years” — but the meaning is the same.
The common thread is exhaustion. Phillips said she needed to be alone to recharge after a busy day. Hatcher said she has gone through life with an open heart but doesn’t date. Stone said she is bored with casual flings.
None of the three said they regret their decisions. Phillips spoke of caring for wounded parts herself. Stone framed her current phase as necessary for finding what she really wants. Hatcher said she is happy with her life as it is.
Phillips’s 15-year figure is the number that will stick. Stone’s admission that she has been a girlfriend to bad boyfriends and good boyfriends alike adds texture. Hatcher’s seven-year dating gap shows that the pattern cuts across age and experience.
The topic of celibacy appears to be trending in Hollywood this summer, with Stone recently admitting she, too, chose a path of celibacy.
That honesty is the story itself.