Marques Houston Addressed Backlash For Marrying A 19-Year-Old At Almost 40

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If you're old enough, you probably remember Marques Houston. He played Roger on Sister, Sister and released music both with the R&B group IMX and as a solo artist.

A close-up of Marques at an event
Leon Bennett / Getty Images for BET

More recently, he's made headlines for his personal life — namely, his relationship with his wife, Miya, whom he married in 2020 after a five-month engagement. At the time, Marques was 39 and Miya was just 19.

A close-up of Marques wearing a suit, tie, and aviator sunglasses

Speaking about their relationship on an upcoming episode of TVOne’s Uncensored, Marques explained that he first met Miya when she was 17, but he said they only developed a romantic "connection" after she turned 18.

Marques being interviewed on the red carpet
Paras Griffin / Getty Images

“Me and my wife’s situation is a little different," he said. "How we met through mutual friends and everything like that. When I met my wife, she was 17. So, we had no [real] conversation…no [real] connection until…you know…she was of age.”

Marques doing a radio interview

“People don’t understand it and I got a lot of backlash for marrying someone that was 19," he continued. "And you know, when we did finally start to talk, I was like, ‘This woman is like me’ and she was just...when I would talk to her, she’d just. … For one…we had a spiritual connection and I feel like that’s the most important thing. We both love God. We both love Jehovah and that was key.”

  Ben Horton / Getty Images for BET
Ben Horton / Getty Images for BET

Another thing they connected over was music, Marques said. "And her spirit, her kindness, her heart, reminds me a lot of my mom," he continued. "We just connected on so many different levels."

  Leon Bennett / WireImage
Leon Bennett / WireImage

Marques’s comments seem to have reignited backlash on Twitter:

Marques has not responded to the latest round of backlash, but we'll update this post if he does.