A lasting love! Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade are the definition of relationship goals, but they have also worked hard to ensure the longevity of their romance.
The Being Mary Jane alum and former Miami Heat baller met in 2007 while cohosting a sponsored Super Bowl party. Though things appeared to be heating up between the pair, they briefly called it quits in early 2013.
“When you’re debating whether to go backward or forward, you have to look at the original issue,” she explained to Glamour in 2014. “[When Dwyane and I broke up briefly in 2013], it was because of distance and scheduling. I finished filming the show, then I flew to Vegas right away to start shooting Think Like a Man Too. I couldn’t take time off, and I missed some quality togetherness we desperately needed.”
Union continued, “Over the summer, I reassessed priorities. I’d always wanted an awesome career with back-to-back projects, but I realized I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my relationship for it. Moving forward, I decided my work schedule has to make sense for our family.”
The lovebirds reconciled and got engaged in December 2013 after taking some time apart. Union and Wade tied the knot in August 2014 in a lavish ceremony in Miami.
Four years after their nuptials, the duo welcomed their daughter Kaavia via surrogate after Union suffered multiple miscarriages. The retired NBA star, who welcomed children Zaire in 2002 and Zaya in 2007 with ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches, has had sole custody of his oldest kids since 2011. He was also awarded full custody of his nephew, Dahveon, in 2014.
Wade and Union faced another challenge in their relationship when he welcomed son Xavier in 2013 with Aja Metoyer while on a break from the actress. In his 2020 ESPN documentary, D. Wade: Life Unexpected, he admitted that telling Union he was expecting a child with another woman was the “hardest thing” he’s ever done.
“Me and Gab just went through something that you never want to go through and we still came out of it,” he said at the time. “Not that it was easy, and that was another moment that showed me life could be different.”
Scroll down to see Union and Wade’s love story through the years.
