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Tia Mowry Talks Babysitting the Olsen Twins and Dancing for MC Hammer in Nostalgic Instagram Post
Tia Mowry is looking back at the road to Sister, Sister fame
Tia recalls how she and twin Tamera Mowry Housley had their sights set on music when the TV opportunity came to be
Their beloved sitcom aired from 1994 to 1999, but it was a fight to first get it to air for audiences to fall in love withTia Mowry is opening up about the journey from average kid to teen sitcom stardom.
In a post dedicated to her beloved series, shared on Instagram on Monday, June 23, the actress discussed what it was like to achieve Sister, Sister fame.
Sharing "what you didn't know" about her early career, Tia, 46, revealed that she and twin Tamera Mowry-Housley weren't even the original child actors in their family, contrary to popular belief.
"It all started on the set of Full House. My brother [Tahj] was cast as Teddy, and since my mom didn't have a sitter, she brought me and Tamera with her. We would sit in the audience while they filmed," she wrote.
"They had us babysit Mary-Kate and Ashley on set," she added of the Olsen twins. "The crew would have us play with Mary-Kate and Ashley between takes. Everyone thought it was the cutest thing. Twin girls watching over twin girls."
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When the two decided to give entertainment a try, it was with music, not acting.
"We started out singing and dancing. Tamera and I were in a girl group called Voices, and we danced for MC Hammer. We thought music was our path. Then a woman named Suzanne de Passe (who discovered The Jackson 5) changed everything," she shared.
It was de Passe introducing them to Karen Bass that put the twins on the track to TV fame. Bass created Sister, Sister based on the twins' experiences, but with a The Parent Trap-inspired twist that they were separated at birth. The twins were in on the idea, but concerned when they learned the show wasn't picked up in a fall lineup.
"We were devastated. We sat in a dark closet, crying, and praying, asking, 'Why would God bring us to LA just to Fail? We gave up Voices for this. Was it all a mistake?' " Tia wrote
When they got the call the next day, it wasn't exactly the news they hoped for: The show was picked up as a midseason replacement, to sub in in the event a show in the fall lineup didn't perform as they hoped.
Sister, Sister did get its chance and was a hit soon after its premiere. Just as they got excited, ABC came back and said they were dropping the show as they pivoted away from as much family programming. Luckily, Warner Bros. picked up the show.
"WB picked us up and gave us a 100-episode guarantee. That's how Sister, Sister kept going and made its mark in TV history," Tia added.
"A lot of people think our journey to Sister, Sister was easy … but trust me, it was far from it. As kids, we faced a lot of heartache and uncertainty. But every challenge taught me something," she shared. "It shaped my faith, my resilience, and prepared me for everything that came after. I wouldn't change a thing."
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