'The Real' co-hosts debate over pastor’s wife's viral TikTok exposing husband's affair following their daughter's death
Christian associate pastor, Christian Gray, once had a beautiful wife, Stephanie, and a family that inspired others. But after Makayla, the couple’s only daughter died of heart disease at the tender age of 12, a year later, Pastor Gray left his wife for a white woman. Stephanie’s TikTok video about the affair went viral. (Source: EEW Magazine)
By Danielle Hastings // Viral Stories // EEW Magazine Online
A beautiful, Black, Christian family has been ripped apart by loss, adultery, and pain—a heartbreaking story that recently sparked a lively debate on daytime talk show, The Real.
Stephanie, a pastor’s wife, created a now viral TikTok video revealing that her minister husband, Christian Gray, left her and his two sons for a white woman a year after the couple’s 12-year-old daughter, Makayla, died from heart disease.
The adulterous minister later copped to the affair, saying “only God” could judge him.
Mom Stephanie, daughter Makayla, and dad Christian (Credit: GoFund Me)
“I would blast out the person more than I would the father of my children!” said co-host Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, wife of multiple Grammy-winning, Christian singer-songwriter, Israel Houghton.
But, immediately, co-hosts, Loni Love, Garcelle Beauvais, and Jeannie Mai-Jenkins, jumped in and disagreed.
“It’s that man’s fault,” said Loni.
“Who are you married to? Who is loyal to you?” added Garcelle, who infamously aired the dirty laundry of her ex-husband, Hollywood agent, Mark Nilon, who was engaged in an affair for five of their nine years of marriage—a decision she says she still has no regrets about making.
The ladies of The Real from left to right: Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Garcelle Beauvais, and Jeannie Mai-Jenkins (Credit: The Real/Instagram)
According to Fox 23, Makayla was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect in-utero, was born prematurely, and underwent her first surgery in March 2008, just three days after her birth. Though Makayla underwent a successful heart surgery in 2020, she went into cardiac arrest at home, as her mother performed CPR and her father called 911.
After Makayla passed, Stephanie and Christian were working to establish a nonprofit to honor their late daughter’s memory and were “in talks with lawmakers about legislation that would require annual CPR training for the parents of pediatric cardiac patients,” reported Fox.
RELATED: Pastor John Gray’s mistress denies affair was only ‘emotional’
Credit: Fox 23
But what has taken center stage now is not the important activism campaign but a messy behind-the-scenes affair, compounding the intense grief caused by the untimely end of a vibrant, young life.
After The Real segment was posted online, Garcelle was widely praised, while Adrienne was largely criticized for what some viewers viewed as hypocritical comments. Outraged fans took to social media to remind Adrienne, the second wife of the “Friend of God” songwriter, that in the not-so-distant past she was accused of being the other woman.
In 2016, The Cheetah Girls star was at the center of a viral scandal when TMZ leaked steamy vacation pictures of her and Israel showing heavy PDA on an exotic, romantic getaway. Before the story broke, it was not public knowledge that Israel and Adrienne were dating—only that Israel had recently divorced Maleasa Houghton, his wife of 20 years.
Adrienne and Israel wed in November 2016, months after Israel announced his split from his first wife of 20 years, Maleasa Houghton, due to a “moral failure” in his relationship. (Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
“By the time I had announced it, this had already been way done,” said Israel of his 2016 divorce announcement during a radio interview with Roy Patterson.
“What complicated things was, shortly after that, I started a relationship with my now wife, Adrienne. It was like two months after that announcement. But, you’ve got to understand, there was the announcement, but there was so much time prior to the announcement. I keep trying to say that, because people have trouble with math,” Israel clarified.
The former worship leader at Joel Osteen’s megachurch, Lakewood in Houston, TX, said of Adrienne, “Because she’s a public person, people came for her, saying, oh, she’s the reason he got divorced. She wrecked the home. I’m like, no!”
Israel and Adrienne tied the knot at their dream wedding in Paris, November 11, 2016 (Credit: The Houghtons)
Despite the truth—that Israel’s marriage collapsed due to his own unfaithfulness and him fathering two children from extramarital affairs—Adrienne was blamed, blasted, and branded a seductress who prayed for and preyed on a married man.
On multiple occasions, she has denied the accusations and defended herself, maintaining that the romance with Israel, who has three children from his first marriage to Maleasa, did not officially begin until after his divorce was final.
Israel and Adrienne got hitched in Paris in November of 2016 and remain happy.
While sharing her commentary on The Real, Adrienne said of cheating pastors, “I just wish that they would step down before doing things like this. I wish people had the courage to say, ‘Listen, this is the mess of my life that I’m in right now, and I need to step away. I need to get my own life together before I can lead other people.’”
Back in 2016, Israel resigned from his position as worship leader once things exploded on the Internet.
RELATED: First Black pastor of Hillsong steps down as scandals pile up
Last month, in Stephanie’s TikTok video, she said, “That’s my husband, Christian Gray, and his girlfriend. She decided to switch up that profile picture to let everybody know that she’s in a serious relationship with a married man.”
The video has been viewed millions of times and trended online for days.
Using the couple’s photo as her backdrop, the cheated on spouse told followers, “My husband walked out on his family one year after we buried our 12-year-old daughter who suffered from heart disease her entire life.”
Credit: TikTok/YourTango
Stephanie continued, “Then he tells her children, he needed somebody to pray with. He had to leave me because he wasn’t getting that from me, so he needed a prayer warrior. So, the Associate Pastor of his parents’ church had no idea who to turn to in his family of like 300— all of whom are great, strong Christians. But he needed this Becky to fulfill his Christian needs.”
In a lengthy response post, Pastor Gray said, “I would never say starting a relationship before our divorce is finalized is right. The wrong we do is associated with consequences that God will judge. God and only God.”
In the same post, he accused Stephanie of cheating as well, adding that her indiscretions are “still safely stored out of the public eye.”
According to a GoFund Me page that was launched to cover funeral expenses and hospital bills, Makayla died Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
View the full segment on The Real below.
