Will met actor Sheree Zampino on the set of "A Different World" in 1991, but he was actually aiming to meet Jada. He mentioned in a 2018 episode of Jada's show "Red Table Talk" that he met Zampino that day on set instead. "The dude that was going to introduce me to Jada was with another girl and I was like, 'Who is that?'" he recalled. He was taken with Zampino but didn't ask for her number right away. Zampino told Hollywood Unlocked in 2019 that Will actually asked someone else for her number — but the two eventually linked up.
Will and Zampino got married in 1992 and had their son, Trey, in November of that year, but after a few years of marriage, Will had a revelation. "I wasn't with the person I was supposed to be with," he said on "Red Table Talk" about his realization that he loved Jada, adding that he had a breakdown in a public bathroom over the realization. Ultimately, Zampino was the one who filed for divorce (on Valentine's Day, too) and they divorced in 1995.
Since then, they've been devoted to coparenting Trey, though Will admitted on "Red Table Talk" the divorce was hard. "Divorce was the worst thing in my adult life," he said. "Divorce was the ultimate failure for me. I've been hurt a lot in my adult life, but I don't think anything touches the failure of getting divorced from my 2-year-old son's mother."
He, Zampino, and Jada have worked at their relationship over the years, though, creating a blended family that works for them. They've all spoken about coparenting on various occasions, and Jada has even had Zampino on one of her live Q&As to share tips on how to coparent effectively.
