Fans have praised Tia Mowry for revealing the reason why she and Cory Hardrict got divorced after 14 years of marriage.
The 44-year-old actor spoke candidly about her divorce during Wednesday’s episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna. While speaking to the TV hosts, Mowry specified the moment she realised that her marriage was over.
“I knew when I really started to focus on my happiness,” she said. “I feel like women, we tend to focus on everybody else’s happiness, making sure that everybody else is OK, meaning our children, our friends, our family.”
The mother of two, who shares her 11-year-old son, Cree, and four-year-old daughter, Cairo, with her ex, went on to express how focused she’s been on “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,” the Sister Sister star continued. “It’s a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it.”
She said there was a “moment” where she knew that something in her life had to change after the deaths of her grandmother and her twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housley’s niece, Alaina Housley.
“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,’”the actor explained.
She credited therapy for helping her through her divorce and explained why she viewed her split as a “celebration.”
“I look at it as like a curriculum when you’re in college or high school. You’re learning, you’re growing, you’re evolving, you’re creating,” she said. “I was able to create, with Cory, some beautiful, amazing children. At the end of that curriculum, there’s a graduation, there’s a celebration.”
She concluded by explaining why “longevity” isn’t linked to a successful marriage and that it’s important for couples to ask themselves how “happy” they are.
“Are they thriving? Are they growing? I feel like that is what is most important,” Mowry added. “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.”
On Twitter, multiple people have praised Mowry for sharing her positive and candid perspective on divorce, rather than describing it as a “failure”.
“Tia Mowry said her marriage was successful, but it ended because she had evolved,” one wrote. “She spoke about divorce being a ‘graduation’ not a failure, that success in a marriage is not about longevity but if two people are happy together. That message is gonna save some lives for real.”
“Tia Mowry is happy, and choosing herself! She is showing that you can have a peaceful separation,” another added. “Not everything has to be so ugly.”
A third added: “Tia Mowry said her marriage was successful. For her, success doesn’t equate to longevity. She evolved, the divorce was her graduation. You have to do what works for you. It sounds like she evaluated the relationship and divorce was the answer for her. She chose happiness.”
Other Twitter users shared how they also view their breakups as a positive thing. One person wrote: “By quitting my marriage, I became a better mother because I was now happy. My ex became a better father. We were successful at co-parenting. 22 years after the divorce we are still friends.”
In October, Mowry took to Instagram to publicly announce her divorce from Hardrict.
“I wanted to share that Cory and I have decided to go our separate ways,” the Family Reunion star wrote. “These decisions are never easy, and not without sadness. We will maintain a friendship as we co-parent our beautiful children. I am grateful for all the happy times we had together and want to thank my friends, family and fans for your love and support as we start this new chapter moving forward in our lives.”
