Marques Houston explained why he didn't like dating women his own age before marrying his 22-year-old wife, Miya Houston.
Speaking to Page Six, Marques said he often found that older women had a different "outlook" on life than him. "I could have married a 41-year-old, and it could have been disastrous," he said. "'Cause I'll sit and talk to women, women that are my age, and 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," Marques said, adding that he would "never" want to date a woman who wouldn't want to be dependent on her partner.
He also said older women tend to carry "baggage."
“A red flag to me [was] always with a woman that had a kid,” he said. “Nothing against single women, but single mothers with children are a red flag for me.”
“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 daddies are about," Marques continued. "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.”
Marques added that he's dated "so many different women" throughout his life, but said "it just so happens to be that [Miya] caught [his] heart."
"She's beautiful and smart and talented, and she's caring and loving, and she's everything I saw myself being in a relationship with," he said.
Marques met Miya through a mutual friend when she was still a teenager, and he has been accused by fans of grooming her. He's defended the relationship and said they didn't become romantic until she was 18. But even so, fans still think it's all just weird and gross:
I wish Marques Houston would stop trying to explain being a pedophile. Idc what the circumstances are - dating somebody you met as a CHILD when you were an ADULT is sick behavior
Whoever marques Houston’s PR rep is needs to tell him to stop opening his mouth lmao every sentence he just solidifies himself more and more as a groomer https://t.co/znzH5fEszm
Marques Houston is a weirdo. No matter how he tries to slice it or dice it, he was talking to and engaging with a minor. What do you even talk about with a teenager who isn’t family or a god child as a 35+ year old man to build a connection?