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Adrienne Bailon husband

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If you ever stopped and wondered what it was about Israel Houghton that attracted Adrienne, what with him being older, a divorcee and having five kids, she says it was the fact that he came at her as an accepting friend before anything else.

During an Instagram Live with rapper Fat Joe on #TheFatJoeShow on Monday night, the 36-year-old shared how the 48-year-old’s lack of romantic effort was a major draw for her.

“He was my friend. He was genuinely my friend,” she said. “He’ll let me say this, but when we first met he never thought I’d ever be interested in him, so he never tried to put the mack on me like that. He never tried anything because he’s like, it’s never going to happen. I’m probably not her type. I’m way older than her. He literally says he didn’t try. That’s actually what was dope and attractive to me about him. He was just my friend and let me be who I really am.”

Fat Joe asked her if she let her guard down early with Israel because he was a man of God and a fixture in the church. She said that people tend to have the wrong perception about how Israel is because of that.

“I feel like a lot of people think that just because you’re in ministry, you’re holier than thou. That’s also the thing that I loved about him, was that he doesn’t act like he’s holier than thou,” she said. “He’s like, we all have our issues. We all have our things. He’s not judgmental.”

What she will say he is though, is hilarious, which was an additional draw.

“He’s so funny. If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything,” she said. “So he was funny, he let me be me, and I think there’s something about a man who lets you be genuinely who you are. I have a reckless mouth, everybody knows it. I can be somewhat alpha female like, this is what we’re doing, and kind of bossy. I love that he lets me be that. He lets me be that and I almost love when he becomes that because I need that in my life. I need a man sometimes to check me or be like, ‘That’s not what we’re doing.’ So it goes both ways. I think women that are successful in business, they need a man sometimes to take control. So I love that he allows me to be the woman I am on the business side and run my stuff and talk my ish on The Real, and then I come home and he lets me be who I am. He celebrates that.”

She was previously in a relationship with music exec Lenny Santiago for six years before they called it quits in 2015. Adrienne and Israel began dating in 2016 after his divorce from ex-wife of more than 20 years, Meleasa Houghton, was finalized. The couple wed in Paris in November of that same year.

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