Zaya Wade and Gabrielle Union just might have our favorite familial relationship in Hollywood. Union is always cheering her stepdaughter on — sometimes going so far as to shed a proud tear! And now we’re hearing from Zaya herself that this is a truly special two-sided relationship. Zaya isn’t brushing Union off as a cringe-y parent, even though the 17-year-old could easily feel that way (it’s basically her teenage duty to be embarrassed by them.)
There are certainly times when the transgender teen feels that way about Wade (we’ll get to that in a second), but we love the special bond that Zaya and Union share. In a cover interview with Seventeen, Zaya revealed that her dad and stepmom are “really cool about” her starting to date.
“Me and my stepmom love to dish the dirt and tap into the high school gossip,” the accomplished teen model continued. “She gets excited for me when I’m like, ‘Oh, I like this person.’”
“It’s nice to have that kind of energy,” she continued.
Eek! Can you imagine gossiping with the Bring It On star about potential love interests?! We love that Zaya and Union don’t fall into the trope of a stepparent and stepchild who hold each other at a distance — nor into the infuriating category of parents who don’t support their queer children. Union is so involved, and we can seriously imagine her busting out the snacks while she and Zaya “dish the dirt” about who the teen has her eyes on as a long-term partner or for a fling. Per Seventeen, Zaya “isn’t opposed to a situationship or two.”
As for Wade? Well, he’s definitely planted himself firmly into trope territory. He’s the classic dad who reportedly tries to scare anyone away.
“He’s kind of intimidating,” Zaya said of the NBA Hall of Famer. “The people I’ve dated have all been afraid of him in the first interaction.”
“He’s gigantic and he has this deep, booming voice,” she continued. “But the facade only lasts for so long … He’s a teddy bear.”
A teddy bear who makes her regularly facepalm.
“He’s just always going to give man and honestly, as an entire gender, they embarrass me,” she said. “So when my dad shows up to a party and he’s wearing a suit and he has no undershirt on, it’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ And when he posts on his Instagram and he’s fully shirtless, I’m like, ‘No. No. No. You have children on this app.‘”
There have been times when the mortified teen has gone so far as to “Olivia Pope” the situation. “Sometimes my friends will be like, ‘What did I just witness on your father’s Instagram?’ And I’m like, ‘Hold up, I’ll fix it. Don’t worry.’ I just have to laugh.” And she has to laugh off her stepmom’s “tasteful” dance posts even if she wants to text her “so badly and be like, ‘Girl.’”
OK so maybe the power couple can make their teen cringe (along with their daughter Kaavia and Wade’s kids Zaire and Xavier). But when they’re not making her cringe, they’re busy being her biggest champions. Wade helped Zaya create Translatable, a platform and resource hub for queer youth and their support systems. And the father-daughter duo might not be gossiping about love interests and high school tea, but they do spend wholesome quality time baking cookies and creating vision boards.
In a country that is trying to tear Zaya Wade and other queer youth down, we love nothing more than to see Wade and Union building her up. … Even if there is some inevitable embarrassment along the way.
These celeb parents are so proud of their LGBTQ kids.
