Tamera Mowry-Housley Was Emotional On The Masked Singer

Since she first burst on the scene with twin sister Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Tamera Mowry-Housley has always been uber-talented and could pull off just about anything. From acting, writing, and producing, she can do it all. So when she got the call to be on The Masked Singer, she jumped at the opportunity to revisit her love of singing. But she didn’t plan on how emotional she would be during her time on the show.

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In an interview with PEOPLE, Mowry-Housley explained why performing on the voice was such an emotional experience. “I cried multiple times because there were moments I wanted to run the opposite way because I hadn’t performed in over 20 years,” she recalled. “And you are brought into this whirlwind. It was me up against the girl that was afraid to sing, afraid of what people would say, afraid of the critiques, afraid of even succeeding. Every single time I made it to the next round, I was like, “I’m going to do this all over again!” But it was such an amazing journey, and I am a different person because of it. I’m stronger. I had the best time.”

Keeping her performance as the Seashell top-secret, even Tia wasn’t entirely sure if it was her. But after her first performance, her family began to connect the dots. 

“The moment I performed the first time, my phone was blowing up from my family. My brother, Tahj, and my sister, Tia, were texting back and forth. And they said, ‘We know this is you, Tamera. That shoulder and knee pop, it gives it away.”

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The panel of The Masked Singer didn’t guess Mowry-Housley as Seashell until she reached the Super 8 for her final appearance.

While she tried to be incognito, Mowry-Housley’s mother, Darlene, advised her over the phone, and her best friend and cousin Jerome Wiggins joined her on set.

Although she would have loved to win the competition, just stepping out of her comfort zone and returning to her love of singing was a reward in itself. “Yes, would I have liked to have won? Abso-freaking-lutely. But I feel like every person has their own personal journey,” she explained. “I faced that fear every single day and I gave it my all. And that’s all you can do is do your best. And my best was good enough for me. I got to do four songs. I’m good.”

The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Fox.