Tia Mowry recently opened up about her divorce from fellow actor Cory Hardrict and how her kids partly inspired the decision.
During an interview for a cover story with HelloBeautiful published on Wednesday, Mowry said she wanted her kids with Hardrict ― Cree, 12, and Cairo, 5 ― to see her “walk in truth.”
“A part of my decision was also for them,” she said about the divorce. “For them seeing their mother walk in truth. I feel like it’s a great lesson for them because it was not an easy decision.”
“It was one of the hardest decisions that I had ever had to make in my entire life,” she added. “But if they see that mommy can do it, that mommy, no matter what people say, no matter, even if there’s some sort of doubt, whatever, mommy pushed through. [They can say] my mommy is living and chasing her truth. I want my children to do that. That’s the best gift I can give them.”
Mowry announced her split from Hardrict on Instagram in October after 14 years of marriage and over 20 years as a couple. She said at the time that they planned to maintain a friendship and co-parent their kids. Their divorce was finalized in April, according to People.
Mowry has talked about the end of her marriage several times since she announced their split.
The “Family Reunion” actor told “Today” hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager in November that she had an “aha moment” when she realized she felt a “sadness” in the relationship.
She said she realized that “life is short” after grieving the deaths of her grandmother and Alaina Housley Housley was the niece of her twin sister, Tamera Mowry-Housley, who was killed in a mass shooting at a California bar in 2018.
“That woke me up,” Mowry said while discussing those deaths again in Wednesday’s interview with HelloBeautiful.
“I asked myself, ‘Tia, are you happy?’ And I said, I truly need to find my peace and my happiness. That’s when I went to therapy,” she said.
Mowry celebrated Cree’s 12th birthday on Wednesday, writing on Instagram that she was “endlessly proud of him.”