Although Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade have been together for over 15 years, the actress spilled the beans on why their relationship was tested at the very start. Gabrille opened up on the popular IMO podcast which is hosted by Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, who is her brother. She transparently shared that Dwyane's family wasn't sold on their relationship at first, especially his mother Jolinda and his sister Tragil, who is five years his elder. Gabrielle is 52, while Dwyane is 43, therefore the movie star revealed that their age gap was a red flag for his family.
She explained: "I think before I got to the wife stage, when we were [at] the very beginning, I think, [Tragil] and his mom were like, 'What do you want? Who are you, you older lady?'" The actress' bond with Dwyane siblings who were around her age were solid, however it was tricky for her to bond with his older sister Tragil.
© Getty ImagesThe Bring It On star added: "When I first met his family, the older sisters who are closer [to] my age immediately got it good, we're good in the hood. But with Tragil, she's been the protector, she's been the watchdog, she's been the gatekeeper to keep him sane and to keep him doing everything he needs to do without interference from anybody. And I'm like, 'but I'm not just anybody, I'm [going to be] his wife.'"
© FilmMagicShe didn't immediately hit it off with his family, therefore it took "some years" for them all to get "comfortable" with their relationship. Eventually they got there and now the once-experienced tension has transformed into a healthy bond, full of laughs. Gabrielle added: "Now it's easy because we're all on the same side. So his mom, and his sister Tragil, we tend to all have the same complaints about the same things that we then want to take to him."
© Getty ImagesIt took a parallel personal experience for Tragil to see eye-to-eye with Gabrielle. The former NBA player shares two children named Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 17, from his previous marriage to Siovaughn Funches. He also shares Xavier, 10 from his former relationship with Aja Metoyer, while he and Gabrielle were on a break. Gabrielle and Dwyane welcomed their child Kaavia, six.
© Getty ImagesOnly when Tragil got married to a man who had been married previously and already had kids, was she able to understand Gabrielle and Dwyane's relationship more. Gabrille humorously and rhetorically asked Tragil: "And I was like: 'Not so easy, is it?'" The two ended up bonding more strongly because the movie star stepped in to provide Tragil with great advice and she recommended: "You want that grace, you give that grace and eventually, you receive that grace."
