Before actress Tia Mowry announced her engagement and eventual marriage to Cory Hardrict in 2008, little was known about her dating life.
She and Hardrict became friends after meeting on the set of the movie, “Hollywood Horror” in 1999. They began officially dating the following year. Earlier this year, Tia revealed that she’s “only had one boyfriend in my entire life,” over a TikTok video reported by Essence.
However, in 2023, Mowry shattered her “goodie-two-shoes” TV persona from the hit sitcom “Sister, Sister,” revealing one of her wildest memories from the show: kissing Marques Houston, who played the pesky neighbor Roger on the show. In real life, Houston was the lead of the chart-topping R&B group Immature (IMX).
During her spot on “The TERRELL Show” on YouTube, she played a few games that delved into her personal and professional life and all the little nuggets in between.
After talking about how the producers created the show for her and her twin sister, Tamera Mowry-Housley, she also mentioned her favorite memory involving how her teen hormones raged on her set — and she had her first kiss with the “Never Lie” singer.
“You know I grew up on that show, and you know I’m a teenager,” Tia said. “My first real kiss was in the parking lot at Paramount Studio with Marques Houston.”
“I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 18, so this is probably the first time [my parents] are hearing this,” she added, before saying that the two are still really good friends to this day.
“We are still really good friends,” she joked. “So, hi, mom. Hi, dad. Sorry, Marques.”
When Golden Era Stories posted the clip on its Instagram, fans weighed in, reacting to what they had suspected all along.
“Roger and Tia Landry had some real chemistry,” one person recalled. Another chimed in, “I kinda figured he was one of their first kiss…… And I love tia’s laugh lol.”
Playing on the show’s catch phrase, “Go home, Roger,” a few fans said, “I guess you didn’t REALLY want him to go home” and “Go home roger and she followed him.”
Someone were even shocked that Tia didn’t share the scandalous moment with her twin.
One said, “I don’t know. That laugh is kind of saying a little more happened. And then Tamera not knowing about it.”
Houston actually confirmed that there was a little something going on with him and Tia during his “Unsung” episode.
He was a little more modest stating that he was just a little closer with Tia and during the period between season 2 and season 3, she was very hurt with him considering leaving the show to focus on his music career.
“The producers asked, ‘What can we do to get Marques to come back?’ Tia and I were closer than Tamera and I were. At a certain point, we talked about it briefly. But, it was kind of like an unsaid thing,” he explained, according to Pop Culture, on the TV One special.
He added, “They [The twins] were very upset with me, that I wasn’t going to come back because they didn’t understand as well. So the third season, when we did come back, they kind of like, didn’t talk to me for the first couple of episodes. Because they were hurt. And I understand. They were hurt because they didn’t understand why. And they didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes.”
But he eventually made up with the girls, in his own special way.
“There was this thing, we kind of made this gum wall, it was behind a set where people would stick gum and write messages,” he remembered. “So I wrote them a message one day and I said, ‘I’m really sorry guys, and I really love you.’ And after that, everything was perfect.”
Today is the 26th Anniversary of ‘Sister, Sister.’ The iconic show featured Tia and Tamera Mowry, Jackée Harry, Tim Reid and Marques Houston! It was the first twin based sitcom to ever hit a 100th episode! pic.twitter.com/qbvP1TGoYg
— The Tylt (@TheTylt) April 1, 2020
Perfect especially with his on-set sweetie, a romance his mother warned him about. The twins were four years older than Houston and his mother thought that they might have been a little too fast for him. He was 13 when he started “Sister, Sister” and she was 17.
While they were in their late teens, he, though an R&B star touring with some of the biggest names in the industry at the time, was always trailing them.
He continues to be good friends with his former cast mates. On a 2015 episode of “The Real” talk show, Houston revealed that he and Tamera still have a nickname that they had since they were kids, where they called each other “Poopoonini.”
Now, Houston and Tamera are still married — Tia recently divorced; they still keep in touch.
“We’re all married, we all have families now. We all continue to text each other and keep in touch,” the “You Got Served” star said in an interview with KTLA. “We’re actually planning something where we all want to, kind of, go get our families together and hang out soon.”
At one time, Tia was robbing the cradle. Fans are now saying her former teen crush is. Houston made headlines after marrying his wife, who happens nearly two decades younger than he is.
The 42-year-old was 37 when he got engaged to his then-19-year-old girlfriend. Marques said he met his love at a Jehovah’s Witness convention in 2018 and were introduced by his former manager, Chris Stokes.
“Miya is like a daughter to Chris Stokes because we are all like family. Being a Jehovah’s Witness, we all showcase true love like family. That’s it. Chris’ real daughter, Chrissy Morales became friends with Miya in 2018, where we all first met Miya at a Jehovah’s Witness convention,” he wrote in June 2020. “It was then that Chrissy and Miya became friends. Miya and I didn’t start dating until she was an adult.”
He confirmed that they “fell in love and got engaged in March of 2019.”
He continued later, “There is nothing that can come to light, because there’s no darkness in my life. You wanted the truth. I don’t have anything to hide, so if you’re waiting for something else, you will be waiting for ever.”
Fun fact: 37 year old Marques Houston is engaged to Chris Stokes’ 19 year old daughter. They began dating October 2018. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/lUSXHWIuzV
— African American Gatekeeper (@WineDownWithKim) March 10, 2019
