Genesis 2:24 says a man should leave his mother and cleave to his wife. But Marlon Wayans says he never got married because his mother would be jealous of his wife.

The 51-year-old actor and comedian made the comment in an interview with The New York Times. He said that he didn’t want his mother, Elvira Altheia, to feel jealous.

“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.

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Wayans said Altheia’s death in 2020 at the age of 81 hit him hard.

“My mother’s death broke me,” he told The New York Times. “It shattered me into a million pieces, because that was my girl.”

Wayans said his mother was “very needy” and that they discussed his single status in their final moments together.

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“I told my mother on her deathbed, ‘I never got married because I always wanted you to be my No. 1 girl.’ Those were my last words. I said, ‘Take that to heaven with you,’” he recalled.

Wayans also lost his father, Howell Wayans, in March 2023, along with 58 other loved ones in recent years, according to The Times.

Wayans said the loss of his parents — which he described as “biblical,” inspired his latest comedy special, “Good Grief” – set to premiere on Amazon Prime on June 6.

“I think as a comedian, I’m getting to the good stuff,” he told The Times. “When you talk about real-life pain, like parents passing, and you can get through that set and you can still be irreverent, edgy, crazy, silly, thought-provoking and vulnerable, I think that’s growth.

He continued, “I miss my parents dearly, but I’m a different human with my parents gone than I was when they were here. Now I’m a man. I don’t have parents anymore, so I live differently. I understand the quality of life.”