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‘We Weren’t Good Partners’: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade Dish on What They Learned from Their Past Marriages to Foster Their Current Relationship

Posted byBy Danielle Jones | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade are spilling some secrets on how they’ve kept their marriage strong.

The two celebrities, who’ve been married for almost seven years, talked to People on Thursday, April 29 about how they make their union work. The “Bring It On” actress started, “This is both of our second marriages, and we didn’t do it right the first time around. The seasoned actress was married to retired NFL running back Chris Howard, while her now-husband Dwyane Wade was married to his high school sweetheart, Siohvaughn Funches. Union continued, “We weren’t collaborative, we weren’t good partners. And we had to learn and humble ourselves and say we really screwed the pooch on that one.”

Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade. (Photo: @gabunion/Instagram)

But neither Union nor Wade gave up on love. Union said, “There’s another way that can be more collaborative and equitable and just better for our lives. If we both humble ourselves, listen, and meet in the middle, that makes for better partnerships.”

Union was already an established actress by the time she met her NBA-playing hubby. So for him, making their marriage work was about being supportive of each other in their careers and goals. He said, “She had a career and a life before we met and she was doing perfectly fine. It’s not my job to change who she is, it’s my job to be part of the evolution. In this partnership, there are times when I have to lead, times when I have to step back, and times where we are side by side. And I know when to shut up.”

But there have been times when they have had to support each other in much tougher situations. In 2019, Union’s contract with “America’s Got Talent” was not renewed. She would go on to make claims that the show fostered a “toxic work environment.” With those accusations came a lawsuit, an investigation, and the show’s bosses disputing the accusations. During that time, Wade came to his wife’s defense on multiple occasions, and it’s safe to say Union felt “very supported.” She would say of time, “A lot of times I feel like I could lose everything by standing up for the right thing. And he’s like, ‘No, you won’t. I got you.’”

The couple has a blended family, which includes their five children.

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