Tia Mowry & Tamera Mowry-Housley Reunite To Talk Twitches, Thanksgiving & Nostalgia

For a good chunk of the late ‘90s and 2000s, it would be rare to see twins Tia and Tamera Mowry without each other. For many Black millennial women like me who grew up with  Sister, Sister and Twitches, Tia and Tamera embodied what we’re talking about when we say “representation matters”: on Sister, Sister they were whole characters who got to be serious or silly, logical or impulsive, boy-crazy or booksmart. And they gave us the freedom to be all of the above too — well, depending on whether you were a Tia or Tamera (my good grades, shyness, and constant need for parental approval made me a Tia of course). And with Twitches, they redefined spooky season. Something that didn’t always feel like it was for us was suddenly anchored by a movie starring two Black girls, and 20 years later, it’s still a Halloween staple. 

Now, the Tia and Tamera sightings are fewer and farther between. So much so that last year when Tia mentioned on her docuseries Tia Mowry: My Next Act that she wished the two were “still close” the internet was convinced the twins had fallen out. Later, Tia Mowry clarified that she and Tamera (now Mowry-Housley after marrying Adam Housley) are better than good and still as close as ever, they just live apart and are busy with their respective professions (both have maintained successful acting careers for the past two decades) and families, naturally. And yet, when the duo reunited recently in partnership with HomeGoods for Deck the Everything Day, the fact that they were in the same place at the same time prompted social media users to lose their minds. 

When Tia and Tamera log on — together — for our Zoom interview, I wish I could say I kept my chill. I didn’t. The nostalgia was too strong. I reverted right back to the kid who worshiped at the altar of Sister, Sister reruns every day after school and who made her entire identity for multiple Halloweens doing the Twitches chant. Tis the season to relive our obsession with Tia and Tamera so it’s only fitting that the duo are back together for the holidays for HomeGoods annual Deck the Everything Day, a holiday created for those early decorators who can’t wait to kick off the holiday season. It was surreal to see their distinct personalities on full display as they chatted about their dueling holiday alter egos, whose mac and cheese is better, and which Mowry sibling is hosting Thanksgiving this year. Here, we get into all of the above — plus, Tia and Tamera talk about what Twitches means to them all these years later and what they mean to Black women. 

Tia Mowry: Yesterday, every five minutes we were getting stopped. And the word that everybody was saying was “nostalgia.” They were so happy to see both of us together. They would see [Tamera] and then when they would see me, they were like, “Oh my god! Hey!” They just lit up when they would see both of us. So basically, what you just did was happening all day yesterday. It was very, very sweet.

Tia: Thank you. Yesterday, a girl asked for a photo with us and she said the same thing. So I am honoured. 

Tamera Mowry-Housley: We are honoured. It’s so sweet. 

Tia: I think [we do understand] now. I think when we were younger, we never really did — 

Tamera: That's interesting. I did in the sense of our natural hair. So many young and up and coming actors now, they would say, thank you so much for representation. You let me know that someone like me can do this, but not only that, someone with my hair. Because, as you know, in the last decade, our natural hair wasn't always accepted, especially on television and in the workforce. So when they saw us, they're like, oh my gosh, yes, I can wear my natural hair. It's beautiful.

Tia: Yeah, I think, now, and especially in our late — 

Tamera: Gosh, don’t say it. 

Tia: In our late 40s! 

Tamera: You look good, girl! 

Tia: Thank you, you too! [laughs] Now, in our late 40s, I'm truly understanding the impact of representation and how important it is to see women that look like you be celebrated, and I feel that it leans into the quote, “if you see it, you be it.” And so I think that's why I followed [your statement] with, “I am honored,” because it's not easy. Being in the positions that we are in, it's a constant battle. It's a constant fight, just being a woman in general.

Tamera: I can speak for Hallmark. When I started at Hallmark — it's been about seven years —  I remember not seeing women like me at all on that network, and I got to give it to Michelle Vicary, who is there now, she gave me my chance. She was like, “listen, we want you to tell your stories. I'm going to give you three films to produce.” And I was like, Oh my gosh, the pressure! But also, like Tia was saying, I felt very honored. I did a movie called Girlfriendship, an all-Black woman cast on Hallmark and literally, the producers came back and said, “we've had the most black audience we've ever had on Hallmark, thank you.” That felt beautiful and amazing. And I'm happy that I'm still there. I still get to tell all kinds of stories of what Black families look like. We're biracial, I get to tell those stories. And to be honest, the response as the new person, the trailblazer going in there, telling these stories, it wasn't always positive. 

Tia: Yeah, and that’s why I said there’s still a challenge. 

Tamera: But we’re doing it! 

Tia: Let me tell you this, one thing about HomeHoods that I love is there's representation. So when you see the Santas, you see some Black Santas. It's amazing. You’ll see some Black nutcrackers. When I saw them I was like, let's go! 

Tamera: Tia always says she loves for people to feel seen, feel heard, and understood. And what's so cool is that this campaign focuses on the holiday alter ego that comes out

Tia: And doing the holidays your way! 

Tamera: There’s so many different styles. There's so many different styles, so many different HomeGoods holiday carols that you can choose from that you feel like represents your festive alter ego. 

Tia and Tamera (in unison): We’re both early decorators! 

Tamera: For our Thanksgiving dinner that I hosted for our family, it was Christmas. There was Christmas everywhere, but Tia's more whimsical, winter whimsy. 

Tia: Sparkle, sparkle, baby! 

Tamera: Yes, glam! I am an ever green icon. So the traditional Christmas colors that you think of — red, green, that cozy, warm, traditional woodsy vibe. But what's cool is I have blue ornaments, I’ll embody the golden glam Holiday Carol alter ego and I'll add some gold in there. I love interior design, I love decorating, I love hosting. 

Tia: And hosting on a budget, okay? And that's what's so amazing about HomeGoods. I'm telling you, when you look at the prices, you're like what!? I literally saw a huge Nutcracker. And I love Nutcrackers. We grew up with Nutcrackers. Our mom loves pecans and walnuts, and she would always bring out that Nutcracker. But there was a huge Nutcracker, maybe four, five feet tall, and it was 100 dollars! 

Tia and Tamera (in unison): Oooh! 

Tamera: I have a memory, and it was together, I just don’t know if you remember it [laughs]. My memory sometimes is her memory. I’ll say “I remember…” and Tia will be like — 

Tia and Tamera (in unison): “No, that was me!” 

Tamera: Tia, do you remember Polar Express, this book, about if you have hope and you believe in magic, you can hear a bell. So we would always read that book to our brother, Tahj, and still to this day, he loves that book. I've passed down reading that book to my kids, but there was a moment where I could have sworn we were eight years old and I heard Santa's footsteps, and I heard the bells. Do you remember that, Tia? 

Tia: Yes, I do! We really thought it was really Santa because we heard the bells from the reindeer, but it was Dad. We ended up realizing later it was Dad. Our parents did such a great job. 

Tamera: We believed [in Santa] until we were 11 years old. Yeah, we believed for a long time! 

Tamera: No, we oscillate. I always host Christmas but on Thanksgiving we oscillate. I was you last year, me the year before that, so now Tahj is hosting this year. 

Tia: We’re going over to his house and we’re all going to be there. 

Tamera: We do potluck style with Tahj.

Tia: I do. I can throw down on some mac and cheese. And you know who’s really  good at mac and cheese now?

Tamera: [our other brother] Tavior. [My husband] Adam’s good too!

Tia: But girl he can’t touch my mac and cheese, I’m sorry. 

Tamera: You know what we should do? We should have the family vote. We need to have a mac and cheese competition between Adam’s, Tavior’s and yours. So you know if you won hands down. 

Tia: I’ve tasted Adam's mac and cheese, girl, and it's fabulous. It's great too. But he can't beat my mac and cheese. Sorry [laughs].

Tia: I’m gonna say me. I am so the fun Auntie! 

Tamera: But what would they say about me? 

Tia: I would say that they think that you're really sweet. And warm and cool. 

Tia: That’s Adam. Tell him my mac and cheese is better! [laughs]

Tamera [on the phone]: Adam, we’re doing an interview right now. 

Tia: Lord have mercy on my soul! My mac and cheese is better than your mac and cheese, Adam! 

Tamera: What do you say, Adam?

[Adam through the phone]: I’m not getting in the middle of this one! 

Tia: SMART man! 

Tamera: I love you, I’ll call you later. [hangs up phone] 

Tia: So I'm the one that's like, let's come over to the house and have sleepovers, and let's jump in the pool, and let's go to amusement parks and stuff like that. Not that you're not, but [Tamera], you're very warm. 

Tamera: If they want to talk about something, or if they're having a challenging time and just want to release and chill. We’ll watch movies and just relax.

Tia: It blows my mind that people have tatted themselves with the sun and the moon. I've seen tattoos! 

Tamera: They have Halloween parties, like the Halloween parties are themed around Twitches. 

Tia: I don't think a day goes by during the Halloween season when a stranger that we don't know goes, “Oh my gosh, I love Twitches.”

Tamera: Tia and I loved Halloweentown. Remember, we were obsessed with Halloweentown, and we had no idea that Twitches was going to become one of those. It is insane. Like, it's iconic. It's Sister, Sister and Twitches. That's what we hear the most. 

Tia: People actually don’t know that we improvised the [“Go Twitches, go Twitches” chant]. I forgot what the director said but he was just saying, like, have fun. I think in the script it just said “Twitches” or “Twin witches” or something like that. And then we were like — 

Tia and Tamera (in unison): “Go Twitches, go Twitches!” [laughs]

Tamera: It’s like “go home, Roger!” 

Tia and Tamera (in unison): Aww! 

Tia: We really, really appreciate that. 

Tamera: You know, we should really do that today, give each other [actual] flowers. I'm serious! 

Tia: No, I know. Let's go get some flowers.