When Tia Mowry and Cory Hardrict announced their split in October, they shook the internet. Mowry, 44, has been glowing since the announcement and recently opened up about her marriage on the TODAY show with Hoda & Jenna. She shared at what moment she knew her marriage was over.
“I knew when I really started to focus on my happiness,” the Sister Sister star said. “I feel like women; we tend to focus on everybody else’s happiness, ensuring that everybody else is OK — meaning our children, our friends, our family.”
“But at the end of the day, it’s about self-love. When you start to really work on yourself, love yourself, know your value and know your worth, then all of a sudden, there’s this awakening. And it’s not easy. It’s a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it.”
Mowry and Hardrict splitting caused such a ruckus considering they were together for 14 years. This type of longevity isn’t something we often see nowadays, especially among celebrity couples. Despite the split, Mowry says she doesn’t see her marriage as a failure.
“And I feel like … when (people) look at marriage; success equals longevity. But, no, at the end of the day, are they happy? Are they thriving? Are they growing? I feel like that is what is most important. It’s not about staying in something because however long you are in that situation, that equals success. It’s about really, again, are you happy? Because life is really short.”
Mowry also attributes death to helping her realize her marriage was coming to an end. In 2019, her grandmother and twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housley’s niece, Alaina Housley, passed away. These unfortunate events helped her put her life into perspective.
“I feel like when I started to focus on myself again, like I said, but there was this sadness. And I knew that life is short. I had lost my grandmother. We had lost Alaina Housley. And both of them at the same time,” she said.
“There was just an ‘aha’ moment in me where I said, ‘You know what? We need to tap in, see what’s really going on with your happiness. Life is short. Let’s go. Let’s start working on you and really focusing on what really, really matters here, which is at the end of the day, your peace, your joy and your happiness.”
Mowry seems to have tapped into this newfound happiness, so much so that her sister Tamera is noticing it too. The twin told Entertainment Tonight of her sister, “This is the happiest she’s been in a long time.”
Mowry and the All American actor met in 1999 and dated for six years before getting hitched in 2006. This was also a unique relationship for Mowry as Hardrict was the first and last boyfriend she had. They share two children together–son Cree, 11, and daughter Cairo, 4.
