Gabrielle Union is anything but a wicked stepmother, according to Zaya Wade. In fact, the teen credits her father's wife with being one of her biggest cheerleaders. The 15-year-old opened up about her relationship with her family to Dazed magazine, which features Zaya on the cover of its Spring 2023 issue.
Zaya credits her 'giant support system' for her recent successes.
In addition to making her magazine cover debut, Zaya recently walked in Paris Fashion Week for fashion house Miu Miu. The teen showed off some of the brand's fall/winter 2023 line as her proud father Dwyane Wade watched from the audience.
Gabrielle was there, too, and appeared to be bursting with pride from her stepdaughter’s big achievement.
She explained how her family makes her feel empowered.
"They are such a giant support system and have always been there for me," she said of her dad and his wife, as well as siblings Kaavia James, Zaire, and Xavier. "No matter what happens, I feel strongest when I'm with them."
Zaya has needed a lot of extra support since coming out as transgender in 2020. The teen was forced to wage a legal battle against her mom to get her name legally changed with the state of California.
The Wade family has had to learn a lot together over the years.
"So many big changes have happened over the last couple of years with me, but also just in general," Zaya continued. "I think it's not my job, but it's my honor to continue and further my family's education and appreciation for the entire LBGTQ+ community as we grow together."
But just because she's educating them doesn't mean that she isn't also learning something as well.
Zaya says Gabrielle has taught her a lot about her own beauty.
Gabrielle has told Zaya that "beauty is in yourself," something the teen takes to heart.
"It's about being you and expressing yourself the way you want to," she explained. "She tries to teach me that beauty standards are arbitrary and that they don't mean anything. They don't matter anymore; what people thought was the standard is not. And just that being myself is the best technique out there."
Zaya seems to be so fully supported at home.
With her family behind her, it's clear that Zaya can accomplish almost anything she puts her mind to. Now that she's hit the major modeling milestones of getting on the catwalk at PFW and gracing her first magazine cover, we can't wait to see what the 15-year-old has in store for us next.
No matter what it is, we can assume that Gabrielle, Dwyane, and the west of the Wades will be standing on the sidelines to cheer her on.
