Marlon Wayans Says He’s Never Been Married Because He Always Wanted His Mom To Be His Number One Girl

Marlon Wayans Says He’s Never Been Married Because He Always Wanted His Mom To Be His Number One Girl

While speaking to Essence about the new Aretha Franklin biopic, “Respect,” which he stars in, the actor talked a little about his personal life and shared the sweetest thing he told his mother, Elvira Wayans, before her passing.

Wayans, who plays Ted White in the film says, “I wanted to play love because that I don’t think we get to see a lot of as Black people,” Wayans explained to the outlet.

“What was beautiful about Lady Sings the Blues is that man loved that woman. That made my sister’s skin crawl. My momma cried. It was a romance.” He added, “I know that we’ll get into the abuse, but I’m going to make y’all fall in love with this relationship. We’re going to fall in love with Ted and Aretha,” he said, acknowledging the Queen of Soul’s first rocky marriage.

 

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Jumping into his personal life and the topic of marriage, the star shared why he hasn’t tied the knot yet: “I never got married because I knew my mom needed me. Women sometimes want to battle for your attention, they want to battle for your love, they want to be the one. Me and my mama share the same birthday. I’m not trying to hear you.”

“I like things to bend and not break, and I feel like when you get married, you have to get divorced in order to either be separated or together,” Wayans says. “I like friendships because you just learn each other and you just grow and you just get better.”

The Wayans family lost their matriarch in 2020. Elvira Wayans was the mother of 10 children, including entertainers Damon Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Keenen Ivory Wayans.

Wayans has two children with Angela Zackery: 21-year-old daughter Amai and 19-year-old son Shawn Howell Wayans, Essence notes. The two were in a relationship from 1992-2013 but never tied the knot.