Union, Wade team up at judge’s table
‘America’s Got Talent’ star welcomes husband to NBC hit
“America’s Got Talent” judge Gabrielle Union didn’t propose that her husband, just-retired NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, appear as a guest judge on the hit variety competition. But she’s thrilled it’s happening.
“NBC asked me if it was OK, and I’m like, ‘Uh, is it OK if my husband comes to work with me? That is actually an amazing idea,’” she says, adding that it goes beyond her own happiness to have him sit next to her for Tuesday’s Judge Cuts episode of the talent competition (8 EDT/PDT).
“Who better to judge potential champions but somebody who’s been a three-time (NBA) champion, has been voted an all-star 13 times? He’s got experience performing in high-pressure situations. I thought it was brilliant,” says actress Union, who serves on the panel with Julianne Hough and veterans Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel.
“My wife is the best publicist I’ve ever had in my life,” says Wade, 37, who married Union in 2014.
The only potential glitch was that the April taping could have conflicted with the NBA post-season. The Heat’s misfortune – the team didn’t make the playoffs in Wade’s final season – turned out to be good fortune for “AGT.”
Wade, a longtime “AGT” fan, relied on his basketball regimen, watching film to prepare for his stint, in which the judges decide
which seven of 18 acts that survived the auditions round head to the live shows in August.
“Once it started getting closer, my wife saw me in a dark room doing research on judging: what to look for, what to expect, watching (previous) shows and contestants, just trying to get a feel without being there,” he says. “One thing you don’t want to do is come into a room full of amazing, talented people and be the weak link.”
Union, 46, says she was ready to give advice, but he didn’t need it.
“He watched film on everybody. He knew things about the judges and contestants that I had no idea (about). He was ready,” says Union, who didn’t need to caution him about Cowell’s cutting remarks, either. “He’s played with and against some of the toughest competition in the world, so Simon was quite tame in comparison.”
Still, Wade acknowledged some uncharacteristic apprehension.
“I don’t get nervous at basketball games. I don’t get nervous shooting game winners, but I was a little nervous coming in,” he says. But “once we got going, it just became like a conversation, so my nerves went out the window.”
His comfort level is apparent in the episode: He offers thoughtful commentary, jokes with his colleagues and praises “AGT” for providing a forum for worthy competitors from around the world. The episode shows a playful Wade even taking the stage during one break to rev up the cheering audience.
“AGT” wasn’t the first time the couple, who have a baby daughter, worked together. They compete in a series of athletic contests in a Gatorade Zero commercial. (Spoiler: Union wins.)
Union learned more about her husband from the “AGT” collaboration.
“I was surprised. I kept looking at him like, ‘Who are you?’ There were acts I assumed he would love and – not so much. And there were acts I assumed he wouldn’t like that he was intrigued by,” she says. “It was kind of like, dare I say, a couples counseling almost, because I was understanding and seeing him in a very different space.”
She’s learned about herself, too, during her first season on the talent show.
“What surprises me is how often I cry,” she says. “I’m not a weepy person … but watching people leave their heart and soul out there for the hope of an opportunity, it kind of rips your heart out.”
Although Wade is retired, he’s not taking it easy. He has a wine business (Wade Cellars), a sock company, major shoe and apparel interests and he may explore entertainment production.
He’d like to work again with Union, who starts shooting the second season of Spectrum Cable’s “L.A.’s Finest,” in which she reprises her role from “Bad Boys II,” after “AGT” ends in September. Union suggests Wade “come be my love interest on ‘L.A.’s Finest.’”
Wade says he has “a total level of respect” for his wife and her busy career: “She doesn’t let up, so it doesn’t allow me to rest on anything I’ve done.”
Wade is pleased with his “AGT” experience.
“It was cool to go to work with my wife for a day,” he says, adding that he got a perk not common to NBA arenas: “I had my own dressing room, so I thought it was great.”