Porsha Williams is debunking speculations about her departure from The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
The reality star made her return to the Real Housewives universe on Thursday with the premiere of season 3 of Peacock’s Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip — the first time she’s been back on the airwaves since Porsha’s Family Matters, the seven-episode Bravo spinoff she led after leaving RHOA that same year after a nine-season run.
“It’s good to be seen again,” Williams exclusively tells PEOPLE about her homecoming. “It’s been a minute, but it was nice to get a little taste, a little twang, of this world again. Though sometimes it’ll sting you a little bit!”
Williams is well aware of this. Her resignation from RHOA came months after it was revealed that she was engaged to now-husband Simon Guobadia, whom she met while filming season 13 of the franchise via his then-wife Falynn Pina, a recurrent character on the programme who was introduced to fans as Williams’ “friend.”
Guobadia and Pina had already separated by the time he and Williams began dating, however viewers were unaware of this until the two made their relationship public shortly after season 13 ended. Reports circulated that Williams had “stolen” Pina’s husband, and Williams’ decision to leave RHOA gave the impression that she was scared of being held accountable on TV.
But that wasn’t the truth at all, Williams says. “I wasn’t running away,” she notes. “And I don’t think any of my followers who truly knew me would believe that I would run away from the show for that.”
Undoubtedly, the RHOA cameras have documented Williams’ personal ups and downs. She was married to pro football player Kordell Stewart when she initially appeared on the show in season 5, but she found out shortly after that he was divorcing her via a social media post. Her engagement to ex-fiancé Dennis McKinley ended after he cheated on her, and despite having a child together — 4-year-old daughter Pilar Jhena McKinley — the birth resulted in a battle with postpartum depression.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of harsh things on the show,” Williams recalls to PEOPLE. “And I’ve been there at the beginning of every season to film, with the camera on. So no, this had nothing to do with that.”
Instead, Williams stated that she decided 14 months ago that she would not be returning to RHOA for another season.
“I had already decided that it was time for me to step away at least six months before I told any of the executives what I was going to do — and long before I even met my now-husband,” she says. “I was turning 40, I was hitting my 10-year mark on the show, and I really just had to reassess where I was and what I wanted totally out of my life. So that’s where that decision came from.”
Williams believes that returning to Housewives through Ultimate Ladies Trip came at the perfect time for her. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been this much of myself on television before,” she notes. “And that’s really something to say since I’ve been on TV for 10 years!”
Much of it is due to the joyful occurrences in Williams’ life, such as her marriage to Guobadia, 58, and her close relationship with Pilar Jhena. Yet, being away from the reality TV spotlight helped.
“Think about it — I’m the only one on the show who wasn’t currently on a show,” says Williams, who appears on RHUGT alongside Real Housewives of New York City’s Leah McSweeney, Real Housewives of Potomac’s Gizelle Bryant and Candiace Dillard-Bassett; Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Heather Gay and Whitney Rose, and Real Housewives of Miami’s Alexia Nepola and Marysol Patton. “So I wasn’t talent at the time, I was like a real housewife for real, who just jumped into TV and got all up in these girls’ tea!”
“It was like a fresh start,” she admits to PEOPLE. “I wasn’t connected to any of their current drama, so there was no baggage for me. It was really free and refreshing. I really just enjoyed introducing myself to these girls and having some authentic moments with them. They were able to get to know me and I was able to get to know them without having to dig into some old messes.”
Of course, some of the old problems resurfaced, like the aforementioned Guobadia rumours. She is also justifying statements she made regarding Dillard Bassett, as well as Dillard Bassett’s former RHOP costar and competitor Monique Samuels.
But Williams didn’t mind a little shadiness.
“I kept it moving,” she says. “Peacock’s whole vision for Ultimate Girls Trip was for us to feel like we were really on a vacation and production really encouraged that. It was, ‘Talk about what you want to talk about, break the fourth wall if you want, discussion something from 10 years ago or yesterday — whatever you want, just have fun.’ And I was having a time with these girls. These girls don’t mind letting their hair down, and when you’re doing something like this, everybody’s got to be about it. When it’s time to wild out, everybody needs to say, ‘Yes.’ If something comes up? ‘Let’s do it.’ And we did both. It was a party like, every other night.”
In terms of whether Williams will return to RHOA, she tells PEOPLE that the door isn’t closed, but she hopes the experience will be different than previously.
“It would be great if we brought back the RHUGT energy to these shows,” Williams says. “The ‘Hey, let’s let all that go. Let’s really get to know each other. Let’s dig in and form real relationships with each other, and really have fun. Stop thinking about the camera. Just enjoy yourself and be yourself.’ And I think if we did that, we’ll end up having more positive, fun seasons.”
Another thing Williams would do different? Look at the bigger picture.
“A lot of times, you can get caught up in what somebody’s saying to you. They’re reading you, they’re insulting you or other people, or pushing it on and making it worse,” Williams says. “You have to think about the end goal. How did this relationship start? Where do you want it to end? I wish I would’ve done that in some of my other relationships — shut out the noise, called a girl up and say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about this. Forget about the comments, forget about what Twitter is saying, forget about everything else that’s going on. Let’s talk about this. Are we going to be cool after this? Is that the intention, or do you just want to fight me forever?'”
“If I would have shut all that out and just dealt with that person, I think I would see better outcomes with some of this stuff,” she says.
Main Image: Porsha Williams| GETTY IMAGES
The post Porsha Williams’ ‘RHOA’ Departure Was Arranged ‘Long Before’ She Met Her Husband: ‘I Wasn’t Running Away’ appeared first on Entertainment SA - South African Entertainment News, Celebrity and Lifestyle Online Magazine & Entertainment.
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