When you think about it, twin actors played a big role in ‘90s family sitcoms. Whether they played a singular role like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen did in Full House, or how Tia and Tamera Mowry acted alongside each other in Sister, Sister, it was twin city. Here’s a funny coincidence between the set of twin actors— the Mowry twins babysat the Olsen twins on the set of Full House , and gave a very interesting reason why.
It was during their Full House days that little Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen met Sister, Sister’s Tia and Tamera Mowry. According to Tia’s Instagram post, you can thank their younger brother, Tahj, for bringing everyone together on set:
My brother 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.
That must have been such a treat for Tia and Tamera Mowry to see their little bro act with TV’s Michelle. In fact, I remember when the Twitches actress played the singular role of Teddy’s sister, Denise, in the Full House episode “The Devil Made Me Do It” (which is available to stream on your HBO Max subscription). Looking back, it’s an amazing crossover moment that quietly connected two sets of twin stars before they made a mark on television.
Tia and Tamera Mowry may have thought they were just going to play the role of audience members when they visited the set of Full House. Little did they know they’d also be playing the role of Mary-Kate and Ashley's babysitters:
They had us babysit Mary Kate and Ashley on set. 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.
I would love to see a behind-the-scenes video of Tia and Tamera Mowry playing with the Olsens, especially if it was “the cutest thing!” Tamera Howsley-Mowry described the on-set babysitting moments in her memoir You Should Sit Down For This, saying that all the It Takes Two actresses wanted was matzo ball soup. That’s my kind of babysitting client!
One of the best things that I loved about Sister, Sister was Mary-Kate and Ashley’s season 4 cameo in the episode “Slime Party” (which is available to stream on your Hulu subscription). Tia and Tamera decided to compete on a quiz show against the Olsens, where one set of twins would have to guess the right trivia answers to prevent their sister from getting slimed.
Now that I know the Mowry twins babysat the Olsens, I can imagine what a sweet reunion it must have been for everyone. Sitcom moments like these were really special in blending ‘90s star power—even more so when you have twin energy with which to fill the screen.
So if Tia and Tamera Mowry had to stay on-set while Tahj was working on Full House, they might as well have had some babysitting fun with the Olsen Twins, right? After all, what better way to pass the time than to hang out with some of the coolest toddler stars of the ‘90s?
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