Tamera Mowry-Housley has learned a thing or two about surviving and thriving in Hollywood throughout the course of her career on Sister. According to Essence, Mowry-Housley told The School of Greatness podcast that the latter portion of her career was difficult while working on The Real.
According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, the former child actress co-hosted the Fox talk show with Adrienne Houghton, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, and Loni Love from 2013 to 2020.
“Being on a talk show, and you can take it or leave it, is not a safe place,” the actress shared with host Lewis Howes. “And I wish someone would have told me that because I would have been prepared, and I was not.”
Mowry-Housley also talked about the emotional toll that being on a talk show takes, as well as the level of criticism and clickbait turmoil she encountered throughout her stint on the show.
“They will take what you say and they’ll use it out of context to fit their narrative of who they think you are,” she said. “And that’s what happened for years on that show,” she said, adding it was like “going to battle, but you don’t know you’re going to battle. And then people come and they start fighting and have to do all these things to [protect yourself].”
Mowry-Housley admitted that she didn’t feel totally “armed” until the end of her time on the show.
“You can literally watch the beginning of the season to the end season and [by the end] you see this strong warrior,” she said of herself on the show.
The actress went on to say that she is grateful for her original ignorance.
“I wasn’t supposed to know it wasn’t a safe place, because I wouldn’t be who I am now,” she said on the podcast. “I learned so much about myself doing that show.”
Mowry-Housley stated that she feels freer to be herself as a result of the experience.
“I learned that it’s okay not to be perfect,” she said. “I learned that it’s okay to be vulnerable. And it is okay to speak your truth.”
