For any parent, watching your child navigate the dating world can be hard. When it comes to his daughter, Zaya, Dwayne Wade is proving that he is just a normal parent. The 17-year-old recently admitted that when it comes to her dating, her father tries to “scare away” anyone that she shows interest in, but it doesn’t last long.

“My dad…he tries to scare any person I have interest in. He’s kind of intimidating,” the aspiring astrobiologist shared in her Seventeen Magazine cover interview. “The people I’ve dated have all been afraid of him in the first interaction. He’s gigantic and has this deep, booming voice.”

“But the facade only lasts for so long and you actually see his real personality,” she reveals. “He’s a teddy bear.”

Wade told the outlet that when it comes to her dating in the eyes of her stepmother, actress Gabrielle Union, the duo are full of “girl talk” and “love to dish the dirt.”

“Me and my stepmom love to dish the dirt and tap into the high school gossip. She gets excited for me when I’m like, ‘Oh, I like this person.’”

The teenager is truly blossoming into her own skin, becoming an incredible young person, inspiring others as her father has inspired her.

In a previous interview with Harper’s Bazaar, for their icons of 2023 series, the teen said, “My dad is who truly inspires me the most,” she told the outlet.

“Kids always tend to look up to their parents, but not only did I idolize him growing up and see him as a real person, I realize that he has played such an essential role in supporting me and the ways I choose to present myself to the world.”

In addition to Zaya, Wade is also father to son, Zaire, 22, with whom he shares with his ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches. Wade also shares another son, Xavier, 11, with ex-Aja Metoyer. Wade and Union are parents to daughter, Kaavia James, and is also the legal guardian of his nephew, Dahveon Morris, 21.

Photo: Zaya Wade Instagram; Gabrielle Union Instagram