Marlon Wayans Reveals Why He Never Got Married: 'Didn't Want My Mom To Be Jealous'

Ahead of the actor-comedian’s latest stand-up special, Good Grief, Marlon Wayans got candid, sharing several interesting deets about his personal life. In a recent interview with a media house, the 51-year-old actor spoke about why he never got married and the reason will leave you surprised. Wayans explained that his potential wife would make his mother, Elvira Altheia, feel “slighted.” Notably, the topic of his marriage came up during a conversation on The Interview, a New York Times podcast.

In response to a question about his marriage plans, the actor explained that he was worried about how having another serious relationship with a woman would impact his mother before she died in 2020.

“I never got married because I never wanted my mother to be jealous of a woman. I never wanted my mother to feel second to any woman,” he said. Wayans also explained that it was “one of the five reasons”, as he also thought he would mess up his hypothetical marriage.

During the conversation, Wayans opened up about how his mother’s death at the age of 81 made him realise how much she meant to him. “My mother’s death broke me. It shattered me into a million pieces because that was my girl,” the actor said. He revealed the truth about his marriage decision to his mother shortly before she died. “I told my mother on her deathbed, ’I never got married because I always wanted you to be my number one girl’. Those were my last words. I said, ‘Take that to heaven with you’,” Wayans recalled.

Marlon Wayans on battling depression after losing parents

Throughout the interview, the actor noted that he lost nearly 60 loved ones, including his parents, in recent years, further adding that his latest comedy special has helped him stretch his comedic range and “rescued” him from depression.

“I rescued myself from depression by learning to laugh in my worst circumstances. Losing my parents broke me, and I’m telling the audience, Here’s how you can survive this: Find humor in everything,” he shared.

More about Marlon Wayans: Good Grief

Marlon Wayans’ upcoming stand-up special will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries on June 4, 2024. Shot at the iconic Apollo Theater in Harlem, the show will see Wayan working through his grief with comedy as therapy after losing both his parents.