The twin sisters best known for their hit ‘90s sitcom Sister, Sister are back again. Tia Mowry Hardrict and Tamera Mowry-Housley have teamed up with the Style Network for a behind the scenes look into their major life transformations. Their new docu-series Tia & Tamera, premieres Monday, August 8 at 9:00pm ET/PT.
Last summer Tia and Tamera aired a successful preview to their series on The Style Network, and this summer they are giving a more in-depth look into their lives as sisters and friends. Throughout the series they learn how to balance their successful acting careers along with the pressures of their personal relationships and responsibilities. During the series, viewers get to see Tia preparing for the birth of her first child and Tamera planning the wedding of her dreams.
In an interview with theGrio, Tia and Tamera opened up about their new show, obstacles of parenting, balancing their relationships and careers, and how they were able to break the teen star curse.
WATCH A PREVIEW OF ‘TIA AND TAMERA’ HERE:
theGrio: What made you want to do this show?
Tia: This is the time… the timing is right. Tamera and I have such loyal fans that have stuck with us throughout the years and we thought it would be nice to open them to our world and let them know who we really are.
Tamera: The series really does follow our true lives. We both keep it as real as possible and the cameras just capture our two amazing yet stressful life experiences. We did a pilot show similar to this last summer on Style. The pilot was just a test to see if people would like a show about us, and people loved it.
Were you nervous at all about doing a show revealing the details of your personal lives?
Tia: At first I was a little hesitant because reality television leaves you open to scrutiny. When people critique a character that I take on, I don’t take it personal. But when people criticize me as a person, it really hits home. If people don’t like our true personalities it will hurt, but at the end of the day we know who we are.
Tamera: Yeah I was nervous because when you put yourself out there people are going to judge you. The first thought that crossed our minds was “oh my God we are exposing ourselves, people are either going to like it, or they’re not.”
Do you ever feel a sense of sibling competition between each other?
Tia: We have always had healthy good competition. If you don’t have any sense of a competitive nature, in my opinion you will never be successful. You always have to be able to look at someone and say “I can do that.”
Between my sister and I each of us have strengths and we each have weaknesses. If my sister sees me working hard she will say “hey I can do that too.” It’s not an envious type of competition, but healthy competition.
Tamera: We never competed to see who would get married or who would have a baby first. Our parents taught us the truth about marriage and told us that it’s not going to be a fantasy. So marriage wasn’t something that we wanted to jump into.
Tia waited nine years to get married I waited almost seven. When Tia got married I was happy for her and when she had a baby I was astonished by her strength.
Was the filming process for this reality show a strain on your marriage to Cory Hardict?
Tia: I think that filming a reality show puts a strain on any relationship. Your privacy is taken away from you. I remember doing the show and realizing why a lot of couples get divorces after filming reality shows, because they really try to create drama in your life. My husband is not a regular on the show, and I am choosing that. If the show does well, he will not be on it next year. I think we need to have our privacy as a couple.
If your son were to come to you in the future and want to be a child actor, will you let him?
Tia: I don’t know. Being a child star is very difficult. You have to have a lot of support, and a lot of discipline. I would want him to get an education first. Go to college and really try to see what it is that he wants to do before going down the road of acting. My sister and I started acting by the age of twelve. I don’t want my son doing that. If my son says he wants to act after high school and college I will say “sure, try it!”
Why do you think you were successful in breaking the Hollywood teen curse?
Tamera: Our parents treated us like they were our parents, they didn’t try to be our friends. They are not really that much impressed with Hollywood. They care more about who we are as people and our character, than about what we are doing. Don’t get me wrong, they are very proud of who we are and who we’ve become, but they really weren’t impressed with that. So if they ever saw us veering in the wrong direction they would crack the whip, and put us back on the right path.
Do you have any advice for the young Hollywood stars that are up and coming in the industry?
Tia: Do not allow this business to define your identity. Keep you integrity and keep your identity. Do not come into this business trying to find yourself. Will Smith once said, “Your five closest friends, are basically where you are going to be in the next five years. Your five closest friends are who you are.” Being young and in this business, you really have to keep yourself around positive people.
In the pilot episode of the series, you revealed your frustrations with the public scrutinizing you for being in an interracial marriage. How did the negative comments about your marriage make you feel?
Tamera: It really hurt me. I was confused. My mom is black and my dad is white. I never felt pressure to date or marry a black man. We were raised in my family to never see color. Our pastor said he had never seen a more diverse wedding than ours. We have friends of all shades, colors and backgrounds. When I heard the negative comments in regards to my husband being white it broke my heart, to think there are people out there in the world that live with that much hatred boggles my mind.
You just gave birth nearly a month ago, do you think you will be ready to return to filming BET’s The Game in early September?
Tia: My body is not ready to be in front of the camera again. I just gave birth four weeks ago. I don’t know how I am going to do it.
How long do you plan to continue your role as Melanie Barnett on The Game?
Tia: I never imagined that the show would be as big as it is. I love playing Melanie because she gets into everything. She is such a damsel in distress. I will stay as long as the writing is good and as long as I am having fun.
What was is like posing nude for People magazine while you were pregnant?
Tia: It was an out-of-body experience. My sister was the one who pushed me to do it. She kept telling me that it would be alright and to just have fun. I am glad that I did, because I see that picture every day. My belly is gone now but I will have those pictures forever.
What are some of the moments that you are anxious for people to see when the show premieres?
Tia: There are some funny scenes where Tamera and I try to decide whether I should do an at home birth or have a traditional hospital birth. Also I can’t wait for people to see when I surprise Tamera with a stripper for her bachelorette party.
Tamera: I can’t wait for people to see how different Tia and I are. Also there is a really big fight that happens between us. I look forward to people seeing us fight and then make up.
In the show you see Tia and I raw. You see two different people who have two different perspectives on every aspect of our life. People always think that because we are twins that we think alike, and that’s just not true.
