Tamera Mowry-Housley is getting as real as possible in her new book, "You Should Sit Down for This: A Memoir about Life, Wine, and Cookies."
In the memoir, Mowry-Housley, 44, talks about everything from her sex life with husband Adam Housley to the “horrible anxiety” that she experienced on “The Real.”
“That life is grinding,” she tells TODAY. “A lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to actually do a daytime talk show. One, you have to have so much energy at the butt crack of dawn, like all the time. I can remember there was one season I did not remember at all, and it’s because I just had my baby. And I was nursing her and I just didn’t sleep.”
After six seasons on the Emmy-winning program, the "Sister, Sister" alum exited the show in 2020 to focus more on her family and her true passion, acting. However, her decision to leave wasn't an easy one.
Mowry-Housley writes that her team told her that "The Real" was a safe gig for her, and if she left, they couldn't guarantee her another job.
Taking a leap of faith, Mowry-Housley decided to trust her intuition and ended up booking a highly sought-after role on the Hallmark Channel, where she's starred in four movies to date and has another one coming in November.
Looking back on her time on "The Real," Mowry-Housley says that she experienced great anxiety every day flying from her Napa Valley home to the show's LA set and having to defend her marriage, as well as her lifestyle choices on the program.
In her book, she said that she used to cry in her dressing room and felt "trapped" being on the show. She recalled the first four years of her time on "The Real" being "one of the unhappiest times" of her life.
It was one of the unhappiest times of my life. I suffered horrible anxiety, I'd throw up in my dressing room (and) I drank way too much.
On top of taking care of her child, Mowry-Housley — who's a mom to two kids, Aden, 9, and Ariah, 7 — had to deal with the constant backlash she faced for being married to Housley, a former Fox News senior correspondent.
In September 2018, Mowry-Housley made headlines when she said that her husband, who is white, was "not a racist" on "The Real." Due to his background in Fox News, some viewers thought that Housley was a little misguided in his views on social issues.
But now that she's had time to think about the statement that she made on national TV, Mowry-Housley said that she wished she didn't address the world in that manner because she realized that not everyone had the same opinion about her husband.
"Being away from 'The Real,' I didn't realize what a bubble we lived in. So I wish I wouldn't have addressed the world massively with something that was just spoken of in a bubble," Mowry-Housley said.
"I feel like when I was on 'The Real,' we were just a part of this bubble. And sometimes when you're a part of that bubble, the bubble seems bigger than what it actually is," she continued. "I wish I didn't give it any energy."
The "Twitches" star noted that she also felt the need to address the comments surrounding her husband because a producer on the show "encouraged" her to do so. But once she spoke up about it on national TV, she realized that it made the situation even worse.
The whole debacle made Mowry-Housley learn how to tune out her naysayers and that's one of the "amazing learning experiences" that she said she got from "The Real."
Next year, Mowry-Housley will celebrate her 12th wedding anniversary with Housley. After 18 years together, she says that they still have an amazing sex life and she enjoys sex way more than people may think.
Due to her religious background and her good-girl persona on TV, Mowry-Housley writes that people gravely misjudge her as a person.
In fact, she says she's a "true freak in the sheets."
"Go ahead and do what you want with that information," she playfully says in her book.
Mowry-Housley even tells readers how they can spice up their sex life. One thing she says she does with Housley is make a list of all the places where she wants them to have sex.
A few locations that made the cut were the rooftop of a skyscraper, on top of a car in the rain, a private beach on a private island with the waves lapping at her feet, and every continent and every room in their house.
"My sister always said that I'm a very sexual and sensual human being, like it is just in my DNA," Mowry-Housley tells TODAY. "And just because you're religious, and you're spiritual and you're a Christian, that doesn't take that away."
Mowry-Housley said she felt the need to open up about her sex life because she wanted other women to feel more comfortable talking about their sexuality, especially if they're in their 40s.
"I wanted to share that aspect of it," she said. "I wanted to get rid of all those stereotypes. Own your man. Own your sex life and love it! Just because you've been married for over a decade that doesn't mean that you have to dry up."
All throughout her book, Mowry-Housley shares "bite-sized drops of wisdom" with her fans "that can spark happiness, inspire change, and empower you to live your most delicious life." She calls them "Tameraisms," and they're all lessons that she learned from growing up as a teen star.
She acknowledges that "The Real" gave her a thick skin, and because of that, she wasn't afraid to talk about the death of her niece in her book, her time on "The Real" or her sex life with Housley.
Although she thought about taking out a few things, she decided to keep them all in because she wanted to be as open with her fans as possible.
"This is a book about my truth," Mowry-Housley says. "And in doing so, I've learned by being on 'The Real,' when you're vulnerable when you're honest, there's always someone out there who may be going through the same thing. And I know for me when I hear that on the other side, knowing that I'm not alone, you feel empowered."
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