NEED TO KNOW
- Dwyane Wade shared which nicknames and he does and doesn’t use for his wife, Gabrielle Union
- He also talked about Union joining his family as a stepmom early in their relationship
- The father of five admitted that it was “rough” at the start to blend his family together
There’s one common nickname that Gabrielle Union is firmly against, according to her husband, Dwyane Wade.
During the Wednesday, July 9 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, Wade was talking about big steps in his relationship with Union, whom he married in 2014, when the topic of nicknames came up.
“Me and Gabby’s first big step?” Wade said, before quickly correcting himself. “Oh, I called her ‘Gabby,’ she would not like that. Me and Gab’s first big step.”
Co-host Jenna Bush Hager asked for clarification, saying, “Oh you don’t call her Gabby?”
“No, no, no, no,” Wade said, before cracking up and adding, “It’s a long story.”
He did touch on one nickname his kids use for his wife — Nickie.
Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union.
Gabrielle Union/Instagram
“The kids, if you saw the sign we put up when I proposed to her, it said ‘Nickie’ and I kind of introduced her as Nickie,” Wade said, mentioning the nickname which comes from Union’s middle name, Monique. “Okay, her family calls her this and not Gabrielle Union the actress, that they probably have some previous conversations in that year about her. And so we just tried to go in with that family aspect.”
Wade said the “biggest step” in his relationship with Union was introducing her to his children. The retired NBA star adopted his nephew Dahveon Morris, 21, in 2011, and is also dad to son Zaire Wade, 23, and daughter Zaya Wade, 18, at the time.
(L-R) Kenny Kinder, Tragil Wade, Zaire Wade, Dwyane Wade, Kaavia Wade, Gabrielle Union, Jolinda Wade, Zaya Wade and Dahveon Morris.
Alexander Tamargo/Getty
“My kids are so a part of my life and I went through a very public custody battle with my kids as well,” Wade noted, referencing his custody battle with Zaire and Zaya’s mom Siohvaughn Funches. “And so they kind of just came with me. It was kind of like, ‘Alright, stepmom.’ She didn’t sign up to be a stepmom when we started dating so it was a little rough early on.”
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Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Wade went on to father son Xavier Wade, 11, with Aja Metoyer while he and Union were on a break. And Wade and Union are also parents to daughter Kaavia James, 6.
“She’s been incredible,” he said of the Bring It On star’s role as as stepmom. “Especially, Zaya was so young. She was 3 years old at the time and now she’s 18 and so to be able to grow with each other, that’s kind of like her first kid. She’d never really raised a kid. I know we had the older boys at the time but her and Zaya really built a special bond.”
He’s also grateful for the family’s balance now.
“It’s good to see how everything turned out, but at the beginning, woooo, it was rough,” he candidly shared.