Tia Mowry on her 'healing journey,' mornings with her kids and being on TV without Tamera
In USA TODAY’s The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives, whether it's at home, on the set or on the road.
Tia Mowry is going it alone.
At least, that's the feeling she's working against in her new We TV reality series "Tia Mowry: My Next Act." The actress many were introduced to on the 1990s sitcom "Sister, Sister" with her twin, Tamera Mowry-Housley, is in a new era after her marriage to ex-husband Cory Hardrict. Now it's time for her to stand on her own.
"I didn't really see (the show) in the cards, to be honest with you, until I had this huge change and transition in my life," Mowry tells USA TODAY. "I honestly feel that if I didn't do something, then I wouldn't be authentic to who I am as a person."
The series follows Mowry, 46, across eight episodes, in which "The Game" actress goes through the dating game, navigates co-parenting and practices a level of vulnerability rarely seen on reality TV; it's also the first time since the Style Network reality series "Tia & Tamera" in the early 2010s that Mowry has shared her life in this way.
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The actress is also gearing up to executive produce and star in the Lifetime Christmas movie "A Very Merry Beauty Salon" with her former "Sister, Sister" co-star RonReaco Lee.
Mowry lays out her perspectives on dating, her favorite things to do with her kids and finding comfort in single life.
Tia Mowry adjusts to single life through 'healing journey'
Mowry calls this point in her life her "healing journey." She's now finding restoration by being in solitude — "I am good company," she gushes — though she's "also human" and longs for affection.
"I, at times, feel alone when it comes to physical touch, wanting to be held and wanting to hold someone," she says. "But again, I will look inward whenever I have those feelings."
In the series, Mowry is open about her struggles with loneliness post-divorce, including the emotional moment when she drops off her daughter to her ex-husband and returns to an empty house. (Shortly after, you see the moment where she also laments the distance between her and her sister.)
"I don't feel as alone as I used to, mainly because I now have a relationship with self," she says. "I think what I was doing, I feel like it's a trauma response. It's me looking for validation, me looking for others to fill that void."
But she also turns to her "amazing kids" and her larger support system.
"I have an incredible tribe of family and friends that I go to whenever I have these feelings," she says. "And again, I sit in solitude and I'm able to work through those feelings."
Tia Mowry dating advice includes keeping a positive perspective
Post-divorce, Mowry has a more "positive and optimistic" outlook on the dating pool.
"Whatever energy you put out, I truly believe, will come back to you," she says. "So my perspective has shifted, and whatever's meant to be, will be. I am not going to miss my person, and my person is not going to miss me."
She has also taken to looking at dating as a "learning situation" and focusing on the things she can control.
"Whenever I go out on a date, the perspective is not 'Is he the one? Where is this going to end up? Is he going to be my boyfriend?' So I'm not thinking about that anymore. It's more about (asking), 'What can I learn more about myself?'"
Another word of advice: She says keeping things low pressure brings her a sense of comfort.
"It keeps it light-hearted and fun. I am the CEO of my life, and I'm not in the pick-me, choose-me girl era. I'm taking control of the situation, and I think I feel better that way than wondering, like, 'What is this guy going to think?' Or 'What are you going to think about me?' That's exhausting."
Tia Mowry's kids are part of her morning routine
For Mowry, nothing is better than the "simple things" like starting her day with her children.
"Every morning, (my daughter) Cairo will be the first one to come in, and she just hangs out in my bed. We have cuddles and snuggle with one another," she says, noting that afterwards, her 13-year-old son "Cree comes in. To just have my kids surrounded by me in the morning, and then being the first that I see when I wake up. It's just so fulfilling and rewarding, being a mother and just loving on them unconditionally."
'Twitches' star Tia Mowry says Halloween is big in her family
The "Twitches" star celebrated Halloween with her kids at Disneyland, where the group dressed as "Monster's Inc." characters. "Halloween is huge in our family," she says.
Cairo, 6, bucked expectations as Mike Wazowski, while Mowry was Boo and her 13-year-old son Cree rounded out the group costume. "I'm just happy that he's still wanting to be a part of the themed costumes, because he's a teenager and he has his independence," Mowry says. "But he's like, 'No Mom, I'll be Sully.'"
The actress and her son specifically bond over their love of traveling. The two are taking a trip to Dubai later in the year.
"He's really into aviation and planes," she says, and loves to take flights to the city on a virtual simulator. So to get the chance to travel the flight in real life has him "floored."
"For me, it's just having intentional quality time with my kids."