Marques Houston, 41, defends marrying 19-year-old after coming under criticism

Singer Marques Houston has defended his decision to marry his then 19-year-old wife after facing criticism for the relationship.

Houston, who produced tracks with the group Immature/IMx and as a solo artist, was 38 when he tied the knot with Miya Dickey, who was 19-years-old at the time, in 2020.

They first met through the daughter of Houston's former manager, Chris Stokes, in 2018 and in 2021, the couple welcomed a daughter, Zara.

Houston has previously responded to the backlash he's received for marrying someone 19-years his junior.

During an episode of TVOne’s Uncensored, the singer explained that Miya was just 17 when they first met - but he insists their relationship didn't develop until she turned 18.

'We had no [real] conversation…no [real] connection until…you know…she was of age," he said.

And now, the 41-year-old star defended himself over the criticism he's faced regarding his relationship.

Instagram/@marqueshouston

Nearly three years after tying the knot, Houston revealed in a new interview with Page Six that women his age often come with 'baggage and kids', which he says is a 'red flag' for him.

He said: "A red flag to me [was] always with a woman that had a kid. Nothing against single women, but single mothers with children are a red flag for me."

However, Houston added that he did have respect for single mothers.

He continued: “I tip my hat and respect women that are raising children on their own,

“But when I grew up, I never really wanted to have kids.”

Instagram/@marqueshouston

He'd previously explained that they initially connected over a shared love of music, saying: "Her spirit, her kindness, her heart, reminds me a lot of my mom. We just connected on so many different levels."

"There’s so many different women I’ve been with throughout my life, and it just so happens to be that this one [Miya] caught my heart.

"Everything that I prayed for — and everything that I wanted in a woman — she came with. Although she was young, I’m young in spirit.”

Instagram/@marqueshouston

“I would talk to my dad a lot, and he would always tell me to have your own kids because you never know what the baby daddy‘s are about.

"So if you’re gonna have kids, make sure it is with a woman that never had kids.

"So that was always my red flag… and a woman with an attitude. I don’t like women with funky attitudes.”

He says that he could have married a 44-year-old woman, but that would have been a 'disaster'.

"There’s a lot of women my age I’ve dated, they may have baggage. They may have kids, they may not." he added.

“Women that are my age… they kind of have a different outlook on life. Like a lot of women my age are very independent.

"They are very like, ‘I don’t need a man to do this for me ’cause I can do it for myself.’ I come from a generation that I love to provide for my wife.”

But Houston says he's always faced criticism over his choice in women: “In the Immature days, we [would] have light-skinned girls in our music videos.

"Then people would question… ‘Why can’t you get a black girl?’

"And then it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I only like light-skinned girls.’ Then the plus-size girls will come and get me. I was like, ‘Man, I can’t catch a break.”