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- When The Real's Adrienne Houghton and her husband, Israel Houghton, first start dating, rumors swirled that he was still married.
- But during the October 29th episode of the Emmy-winning talk show, she explained how she confronted Israel about the headlines—and even "investigated" him online.
- In reality, Israel and his ex-wife, Meleasa, had filed for divorce under their initials months before he started seeing Adrienne.
The early days of Adrienne and Israel Houghton's relationship were seemingly messy—to say the least.
After the two were spotted out on vacation in 2016, rumors surfaced that the 48-year-old gospel singer was still married to his ex-wife and the mother of his four kids, Meleasa. But during a recent episode of The Real, Houghton revealed she confronted Israel about the situation early on, calling on her publicist to do some online "investigating."
"Thank god for the Internet these days, things get confusing and you get to clarify. When I first started dating my husband people thought he was married, and that was a lie," she said, before clarifying how there was a mix-up with the divorce paperwork.
"If you're being real you want to talk to the man, and you’re like ‘You got me out here looking crazy. Let me see the paperwork.' The crazy thing is him and his ex-wife actually filed under their initials and not under their names, so when Page Six and a lot of these other news outlets went to go look for divorce documents, they couldn't find them because they were under their initials for their privacy. Ha-ha! But, it was true," she clarified.
When Houghton's publicist wasn't able to find information about Israel's divorce, she turned to him and asked for the truth. He reiterated that he and his ex filed under their initials to keep a low profile. During the episode, she also clarified that Israel had filed months before the two even started dating.
Of course, this isn't the first time she's addressed the rumors. Back in 2016, she set the record straight about his relationship status—and rumors that she was the reason for his divorce—during an episode of The Real.
"Yes I am dating. His name is Israel Houghton, as some of you guys may know. This man pictured here is not married. Praise God!" she said. "First things first, I think it's important to clarify things because people can put up headlines and you run away with that and no one actually reads sometimes the articles or somehow they miss big public announcements that he put out."
In March 2016, Israel released a statement to address the tabloids on Facebook.
"I understand that gossip and salacious untrue speculative stories are far more interesting and entertaining than the truth & facts. But, it's incredibly unfair to allow someone to carry the burden, blame & shame of something they had nothing to do with," he wrote. "I met Adrienne Bailon a bit over 2 years ago, we worked together & became friends... Our circles connected & we remained good friends. From a friendship, as two single adults we have very recently begun to explore a dating relationship."
He continued, "My marriage had been over for quite some time before going public with my divorce announcement."
After dating for six months, Israel proposed to Adrienne on August 12, 2016 in Paris.
The couple returned to the city of love and became Mr. and Mrs. Houghton on November 11, 2016.
Perhaps Adrienne's clarification will finally put the rumors to rest.
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As the Lifestyle Writer at OprahMag.com, I cover beauty, style, relationships & love, work & money, health, and food. When I'm not working, you'll find me watching Bravo, on the hunt for the perfect jeans and white tee, or taking my yorkie, Chloe, out for walks in Riverdale, New York.
