Gabrielle Union Admits To Being Unfaithful In Her First Marriage

Actor Gabrielle Union is partly known as being the wife of basketball player Dwyane Wade, but many might not be aware of her first marriage to football player Chris Howard. That includes the surprising revelation that the "Bring It On" star has confessed to being unfaithful in her past relationship — although the circumstances aren't what you might think. 

Unfortunately, the actor has also dealt with issues involving infidelity with her current husband. In her 2021 book, "You Got Anything Stronger?" (via USA Today), Union detailed how the Miami Heat player got another woman pregnant while the two were on a break in 2013, while she was in the midst of her own fertility struggles. "To say I was devastated is to pick a word on a low shelf for convenience," Union explained. "The experience of Dwyane having a baby so easily while I was unable to left my soul not just broken into pieces, but shattered into fine dust scattering in the wind."

Ultimately, she chose to forgive Wade. According to Us Weekly, the two went on to get married in 2014 and later welcomed a daughter via surrogacy. But the same grace was not given to her first husband, and Union is — for the first time — admitting to her own infidelities during this relationship.

After their first encounter at a party in 1999, Gabrielle Union married Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Howard in 2001, per People. Since their divorce in 2006, the "Think Like A Man" actor has dished that Howard's cheating ways began at the very start of their marriage, as noted by BET. But for the first time, Union admitted on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast that she also committed adulterous behavior in retaliation to Howard's unfaithfulness.

"Neither one of us felt like the marriage should get in the way of our dating... so a part of it was, like, keeping up with his activities. I was like, 'Oh, that's what you're doing? Oh, you're gonna feel this one,'" Union explained on the January 2 episode. "I just felt entitled to it as well. I was paying all the bills. I was working my a** off... it was dysfunctional from day one." She also noted that when the two went to couple's therapy, their therapist concluded that Union and Howard should have never "made it out of the dating phase."

Looking back, Union believes this was a "stupid relationship" that never should have made it to the alter. Regardless, the actor seems to be living her best life with her husband, Dwyane Wade, long after working through their infidelity issues. Harper's Bazaar recently reported that the Union-Wade family is chasing waterfalls while on vacation in Maui.