Porsha Williams is making her triumphant return to The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 and it feels like the Bravo franchise is whole again.
Williams originally joined the show in Season 5 and held a peach nine seasons before stepping back. With the new season premiering on Sunday, March 6, Williams told Deadline why it was the right time to return to RHOA.
“I had taken a three-year break from Housewives, and during that time, I really got a chance to just enjoy my baby and just kind of get back to [myself] outside of TV and outside of [being on] a reality show,” Williams said. “But when I did the Ultimate Girls Trip, I have to say, I got the bug back. And [after that], conversations started to be had, and it just ended up working out. It was just the perfect timing!”
Williams explained that what she missed the most about doing The Real Housewives was “the energy of it all,” adding, “A lot of times, it’s not a lot of people who can really understand going through things in the public eye and the way that you’re kind of living out loud, but those girls on the show, there’s a camaraderie there. There’s a sisterhood there. It’s just a great place to be able to relate to other women who are going through the same things at the same time, and they understand.”
Upon returning to RHOA, Williams was greeted with familiar faces like Cynthia Bailey, Kenya Moore, and Drew Sidora.
“I was excited to have Cynthia back on the show, excited for Kenya to be on the show and we really, really, really started off with a bang with Kenya,” she said. “I don’t [think the audience had] seen us together in a while and I think the dynamic that she and I had in the beginning of the season, it was just magical. It was fun. It was like Big Sis, Little Sis, and I looked forward to that. I really did look forward to us being able to have the opportunity to have a different type of relationship with a whole new crew around us.”
Williams and Moore have a long history and the last time viewers saw them on screen together, things were not on the best of terms. However, the two were able to come together and form a bond and friendship.
“[Kenya and I] have some mutual friends, so I had seen her at a couple of her kids birthday parties here and there and the respect was there [and] mutual,” Williams recalled. “I basically let bygones be bygones. I have a daughter, she has a little girl, and we know what’s important in life, and holding on to grudges is just not that serious. So we decided to really start from a brand new place. Yes, we discussed a little bit about our past and but it was a more forward conversation that we were having of what our friendship could develop into and that was actually really refreshing.”
Williams shared that the biggest killer of any Real Housewives franchise is when cast members form alliances within the group. She believes that with Kandi Burruss having left the franchise, Moore felt more willing to open up to forming new friendships.
One of the new housewives for Season 16 is Shamea Morton, who had previously been featured as a “friend of” Williams. Williams says her promotion into full-time status was “going to be a treat for fans who have known Shamea throughout the years.”
Two additional personalities that viewers will be seeing on screen again are Williams’ mother, Diane, and sister Lauren who the RHOA star calls “unsigned housewives.”
“I have to say, when we first got in front of the camera again, I was a little dusty! I was looking [into] the camera. We had to get used to having the cameras around us. What people like how my mom is just so honest [and] gives me that real advice, my sister who is my true support system [and] my peacekeeper,” she said. “And then being able to see Pilar, who was born on TV, now five years old, walking around and handling the house and, running everything, I think it’s going to be good for people to see where this part of my life is.”
In addition to being a reality TV personality, Williams is an actress and will soon be on Lifetime’s Single Black Female 3, something that has her daughter Pilar excited.
“I have a new movie coming out [Pilar] saw the premiere. She’s like, ‘Mommy, when’s your movie coming out?’ And I told her it was coming on her birthday, so she is gonna be excited,” Williams revealed. “She may be kind of scared of mommy after she watches that movie, but she’s gonna be able to watch me over there.”
On being part of the Lifetime movie, Williams said, “I’m a big fan of the series. First of all, love, love, love, all those women. The storyline has just gotten better and better and better. I think it’s going to be one of the best installments of [the franchise]. It will be the last [but] I think it will be the best. I just fell in love with my character because it is so different than any of the other characters I’ve ever played. She is a detective. She has some issues with alcohol, and a little bit on the darker side than my bubbly usual personality, that I think people will be able to see me in a different light in the acting world. So I think it’s going to be really good.”
Williams teased that after filming Single Black Female 3 she got the acting bug again and is working on more projects, teasing, “I do have another show that I actually executive produced that’ll be coming out this year too.”
It wouldn’t be The Real Housewives if there wasn’t some drama and shade being thrown around and Williams quickly finds herself at odds with the newbie cast member Kelli Ferrell, who brings up on camera the rumors about how she met her now ex-husband Simon Guobadia.
“I think her internet is slow, like she must still be on dial-up, because that is so old,” Williams said. “She was so delayed and trying to have a shock moment with that. I mean, I’ve been trending for three years. There has been children born, there’s been marriages, there’s been all kinds of celebrations since what she was trying to bring up and make such a dark and shady moment, it’s lackluster. She’s got to learn. She’s new. Her shade was very dry.”
She continued, “You got to speed up the process for some people. I don’t want to let them drown. I want each girl on this show to do well and sometimes to take a little tough love and a good read, but we’ll get them together.”
Williams told us about what she enjoyed most about returning to RHOA, it was her reunion with Phaedra Parks.
“I enjoy the reunion of Frick and Frack. Phaedra and I have not had many opportunities, because, as you can see, my girl is on everybody [else’s] show. She’s doing everything, and we’re both very busy,” she said. “So what better opportunity during such a dark time for me to be able to have a light like her come back and be able to enjoy her in our same space that we shared before. I think that was probably one of the highlights. Cynthia is another highlight. She’s like some of the younger girls are calling her auntie. I won’t disrespect my queen, but I would have to say that she definitely is that big sis, and I just felt so much support from her through the whole season. And she’s a good Kiki!”
With Williams life being a whirlwind between her divorce, business ventures, and the girls coming at her, she wants her journey to be a learning moment for people.
“What I would want people to learn about me or take away from the season, from me, it would be that you have to you have to forgive yourself, put yourself first, and you have to be as strong as you want your children to be,” she explained. “So I truly had to stand strong and be a great example for my daughter and try to be in a resilient space while going through.”
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 premieres Sunday, March 9 at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo
