Actress Tamera Mowry is opening up about why, during her time of filming on the former daytime talk show “The Real,” she would become physically ill. Mowry shared of this experience during a press tour for her new autobiographical book, “You Should Sit Down for This: A Memoir about Life, Wine, and Cookies.”
In an Oct. 4 interview with Essence Magazine, Mowry shared that she felt she would “throw up” during the first few seasons of “The Real” because she wasn’t used to speaking in her own voice about various topics.
While disclosing why she thought it was the right time to write her new book, Mowry said, “Because I had experienced and lived enough life to do so. The first time I truly ever believed and realized that my voice actually matters and that there is an audience that wants to hear it, was when I was doing ‘The Real.’ “
She continued, “For at least three years, every single time I heard ‘This Is Our Time,’ I thought I was going to throw up!” she said, referring to words from the theme song for the show. “I wasn’t used to speaking my voice. I always spoke others’ words. As an actress, I would speak whatever is on that page.”
Also, in the interview, Mowry explained that she also suffered anxiety when taping “The Real.” The 44-year-old said, “Every day I was exposing something of myself, and there was a tagline about it, whether I wanted it to happen or not.”
She added, “But I realized the power of being vulnerable, and what I mean by power is that that’s when you resonate with people. For me, I don’t do things just to do them. Not for self-glorification. That never felt comfortable. The core of what I do is I always want to encourage, inspire. I’m not just saying things to hear myself talk.”
“The Real,” which was on the air from 2013 to 2022, featured co-hosts Tamera Mowry, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai, Adrienne Bailon, Tamar Braxton and Garcelle Beauvais. Braxton, who was a part of the series from 2013, was ultimately fired from “The Real” in 2016 for undisclosed reasons. Beauvais joined the cast in September 2020, months following Mowry’s departure from the show. Comedian Amanda Seales also was with the show for six months in 2020.