“You know I’ve never dated,” Mowry told friend Essence Atkins on the premiere of ‘Tia Mowry: My Next Act’
Tia Mowry is opening up about her marriage — and divorce — with Cory Hardrict.
In the premiere episode of her new reality series Tia Mowry: My Next Act, Mowry, 46, explained to friend and actress Essence Atkins that the dating scene is intimidating to her. Sharing that this is the first time she has had to truly put herself out there, the Sister, Sister alum revealed something surprising about her personal life.
“You know I’ve never dated,” she said. “Cory was my first everything.”
“That’s right, you haven’t!” Atkins responded.
“I wasn’t even allowed to date until I was 18 years old,” Mowry then explained in her confessional. “I met Cory when I turned 20 and I lost my virginity at 25. There, I said it! And then we got married! Boom!”
Noting that it was scary for her to leave her marriage, Mowry also admitted she had grown frustrated with having to put on a front in public that was so different than the reality behind closed doors.
“I got tired of showing up at events and people thinking that everything was perfect and it wasn’t,” she said. “I’d go home and feel alone.”
“My persona as a celebrity is kinda the girl next door — the white picket fence — and what I didn’t show was what was really going on in my marriage,” she added. “Maybe I was trying to live a fantasy.”
After the episode aired, fans took to social media to react to Mowry’s honesty.
“I feel for Tia Mowry so much.. Cory was all she knew,” one user wrote on X.
“I’m so proud of Tia Mowry and I love this for her,” said another. “The vulnerability, the showing us it’s okay to not be okay and to choose yourself. It’s also just so damn beautiful to see her learning and growing.”
Mowry and the Divorce in the Black actor, 44, split in 2023 after 15 years of marriage. They share daughter Cairo, 6, and son Cree, 13 (who she previously explained “didn’t feel comfortable” appearing on camera this season).
In the teaser docuseries, Mowry shared that she was “slowly learning who I am ”a year and a half after her divorce.
“I came into this world with a twin,” she continued to say, speaking of her sister, Tamera Mowry. “And right after that, I went into a 22-year relationship, so I have never been alone in my life.”
In a clip showing her taking Cairo to Hardrict’s house, following their custody schedule, the Seventeen Again actress broke down about the new era of her life.
“I feel like one of the hardest things that I’ve had to adapt to, is dropping my kids off at their dad’s house,” she told cameras. “I’ve always wanted the family dynamic of having a mom and a dad in one household, and when you’re dropping your kids off, you actually visually see how that is no longer.”
The eight-episode series is executive produced by Tia, Adam Griffin and Erin Richard, along with executive producers from Jesse Collins Entertainment.
Tia Mowry: My Next Act premieres Oct. 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on We TV, with new episodes available on AMC’s streaming service ALLBLK.
