Marques Houston is speaking out about the backlash he’s received because of the 19-year age gap between him and his wife, Miya Dickey.
Houston and Dickey’s relationship made headlines a few years ago when it was revealed that the R&B singer, now 41, met Dickey, 22, when she was 17 years old. After only five months of dating, the couple got engaged in March 2019 and plan to marry in August 2020.
Houston reveals how he met his wife in a preview released ahead of his upcoming appearance on TV One’s Uncensored.
“Me and my wife’s situation is a little different, because we met through mutual friends and all that,” Houston explains. “My wife was 17 when I met her. We had no, really, conversation and no, really, connection until she was of age”
Houston then addresses the criticism he’s received for the couple’s nearly 20-year age difference.
“No one understands it. “Of course, I received a lot of backlash for marrying someone who was 19,” he says. “And, you know, when we finally started talking, I thought, ‘This woman is like me,’… For one thing, we had a spiritual connection, which I believe is the most important… and being able to be around her… We met through music, and her spirit, kindness, and heart reminded me a lot of my mother, and we connected on so many levels.”
Houston first responded to the backlash in June 2020, taking to Instagram to explain how he and Miya met.
“I met Miya through a mutual friend in 2018,” he explained at the time. “I had no idea she existed until then… Chris Stokes considers Miya to be his daughter because we are all like family. As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we all demonstrate true love in the form of family. That’s all. Chris’ real daughter, Chrissy Morales, befriended Miya in 2018, where we all met Miya for the first time at a Jehovah’s Witness convention. Chrissy and Miya became friends at that point. We didn’t start dating until Miya was an adult. We fell in love and got engaged in March of 2019.