Sister, Sister Star Marques Houston Has Exciting Family News To Share
Marques Houston has enjoyed a varied career, but he is best-remembered for playing Roger Evans on the hit sitcom "Sister, Sister," and later appearing in the movies "Fat Albert" and "You Got Served," per IMDb. In 2018, through Houston's manager, Chris Stokes, the performer met his future wife Miya Dickey. She was friends with Stokes' daughter, Chrissy Stokes, and the couple met at an event for Jehovah's Witnesses, per Rolling Out.
Houston was forced to jump through familial hoops when he decided to date Dickey — as was customary for their religion. "He asked my grandmother for her permission to date me," she revealed to Rolling Out in March. "Then he met my uncles and, of course, they had to drill him. Last, he asked me if we could date exclusively and I said yes," Dickey said.
After the couple got engaged in 2020, Houston came under fire when a tweet that pointed out their sizable age gap went viral (he was 38 at the time, she was 19), per E! News. The actor took to Instagram to defend their relationship. "Miya and I didn't start dating until she was an adult. We fell in love and got engaged in March of 2019," he wrote in June 2020. "And that's the story. No twists, no turns, no scandals, just true love," Houston added. Months later, in August 2020, the couple married in a beautiful ceremony, per People. A little over a year later, the couple revealed special news, which they worked hard to keep under wraps.
Why Marques Houston changed his mind about family
On December 2, Marques Houston and Maya Dickey welcomed their daughter, Zara, into the world, as revealed in a December 8 interview with Us Weekly. This came as a shocker to fans, as neither Houston nor Dickey hinted at the pregnancy on social media beforehand. Apparently, the "Sister, Sister" alum left the naming up to his wife. "Miya chose the name Zara because she just felt like it was exotic. [There was] no special reason," he told the outlet. Having a child had still not fully set in for the new dad. "It still feels surreal, like, it hasn't set in yet that we are actually not just babysitting one of our friends' kids," he told the outlet.
In the past, Houston had no interest in becoming a father. It was not until he started dating Dickey that he changed his mind. "You know Miya has always wanted kids since she was younger, and I was against having kids until I met Miya and fell totally in love with her," he revealed to Rolling Out in March. Although once the actor changed his mind, he became dead set on being a dad. "Now I find myself wanting to actually have a baby more than her," Houston added.
The birth of their first born came only months after the couple celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary. Houston commemorated the occasion with a touching Instagram post. "It's not even fair how amazing you are! ... I love you forever an ever baby," he wrote in August.