Tamera Mowry-Housley made her return to co-hosting The Real on Monday, only two weeks after the tragic death of her niece, according to a report from E! Online.
Earlier in November, Tamera and husband Adam Housley’s niece Alaina Housley was one of the 12 people who was killed in a shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. In a statement given to E! News on November 8, the couple said, “Our hearts are broken. We just learned that our niece Alaina was one of the victims of last night’s shooting at Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks… Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner. We thank everyone for your prayers and ask for privacy at this time.”
A week after the shooting, Mowry-Housley revealed through an Instagram post on November 15 that the college freshman had been laid to rest.
As she was revealed to have rejoined the show at the beginning of Monday’s episode of The Real, Mowry-Housley received an emotional welcome from the studio audience as well as her fellow co-hosts Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon, and Jeannie Mai.
When Tamera was asked about how she was coping with the grief, Mowry-Housley fought back tears as she replied, “I’m OK.”
Mowry-Housley emotionally continued, speaking about how Alaina would have wanted her to move on when she said, “I’m sorry… Our family’s been through a lot, but the interesting thing about grief is that you’ve gotta find the balance of moving forward and grieving at the same time. It’s just been a little over two weeks…she would want me to be here. And she would want me…sweet Alaina…to move forward. I don’t like to say move on, because I don’t think I’ll ever move on with the fact that she’s not here with me or with our family.”
The Sister Sister alum went on to say how she would dedicate her life toward making Alaina’s tragic death an opportunity to make a change and match the impact that she described her niece had on all that she had come in contact with.
When responding to a question about what that impact could include, Mowry-Housley emphasized that her goal would be making major changes to the current American policy on gun violence, saying she would be willing to go as high as the White House to debate her points and make a difference. She also spoke of encouraging “healing” in a country that has become so harshly divided.
The family of Alaina has set up a foundation in her honor, called Alaina’s voice. The website for the foundation describes its goal as encouraging Americans to appreciate their loved ones, as well as encourage the media to not allow mass shooters to become celebrities and support national leaders who will lend support to mental health initiatives.