What We Know About Tia Mowry And Gabrielle Union's Long Friendship

Gabrielle Union and Tia Mowry both got their start in network TV classics. Union made her small screen debut in a 1993 episode of the sitcom "Family Matters" as a character who's simply described as "Mall Girl" on IMDb, while Tia and her sister, Tamera Mowry, were discovered on the set of "Full House." During an appearance on "The Meredith Viera Show," Tia explained that they spent some time on the set because their brother, Tahj Mowry, played a friend of Michelle Tanner (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) named Teddy. Like the Olsen twins, the Mowry sisters shared a role — they both scored a cameo as Teddy's sister in the episode "The Devil Made Me Do It" (via MTV).

Tia and Union found steady work in film and television after their TGIF beginnings, and three decades later, they'd made the move to streaming. Tia put her well-honed comedic skills to use in the Netflix series "Family Reunion," while Union took on a dramatic role in the AppleTV true crime series "Truth Be Told." The two women also became moms, and they both opened up about their struggles to conceive — at the 2020 BlogHer conference, Union revealed that she had been diagnosed with adenomyosis (via Essence), while Tia told Romper that a similar condition, endometriosis, was causing her fertility issues.

But after their careers first brought them together, the joys of hard-won motherhood would ultimately strengthen Tia and Union's longtime bond.

Before Gabrielle Union led the East Compton Clovers cheer squad to a much-deserved victory in "Bring It On," she appeared alongside Tia and Tamera Mowry in a handful of "Sister, Sister" episodes early on in her career, per IMDb. Union played two roles, the first being a character named Vanessa who befriends Tamera, but turns out to be bad news. Union shared a throwback clip from Vanessa's single episode on Instagram in 2018, writing, "That time I was an aggressive teenage shoplifter on Sister Sister." In later episodes, Union returned as a friend of the twins named Shawn.

In a September 2020 Instagram post, Union paid tribute to Tia and Tamera on Woman Crush Wednesday, revealing that she'd remained close friends with the twins since they first met on the show. "Tia has continued adding credits to her robust acting career, starring in The Game, Instant Mom, and Family Reunion. She also launched a supplement line, @shopanser, and wrote a cookbook!" Union wrote of her pal's accomplishments. She also praised Tia for serving as an inspiration to women trying to lose weight after giving birth by encouraging them to take their time and ignore unsolicited opinions on their bodies.

Her BFF returned the compliments in a 2021 Us Weekly interview. "She's such an incredible, inspiring person," Tia said of Union. "She's a wonderful mom, she's a hard worker, and she has a beautiful heart. She really does."

Tia Mowry and her ex, Cory Hardrict, share two children: son Cree and daughter Cairo. As for Gabrielle Union, she and her husband, Dwyane Wade, are the proud parents of five. Wade has three children from previous relationships, daughter Zaya and sons Zaire and Xavier, and Dahveon joined the family in 2011 when Wade became his nephew's legal guardian, per People. The couple's youngest child is their sassy daughter Kaavia, whose ability to serve some epic side-eye has made her a social media sensation.

Speaking with Essence, Tia revealed she and Union noticed both of their daughters were being called "shady baby" on Instagram, and this inspired the moms to start arranging playdates for the two toddlers in 2021. "We finally got them together and they hit it off more than we thought they ever would. It's crazy," she said. The moms shared some of Cairo and Kaavia's adorable antics on Instagram, including when Kaavia took her new friend for a ride in a kid-sized electric car. "Bringing the girls together was magic and pure sweetness and comedy!" Union captioned that cute video. Meanwhile, Mowry posted a clip of the girls solidifying the start of their friendship with a sweet hug.

Mowry also spoke to Us Weekly about what she and Union do while their daughters are playing. "We sit back, we drink wine," she said. "We talk about motherhood, we talk about life."