“I felt like when she came back in, she genuinely was interested in what we had going on,” Williams tells people of ‘RHOA’ costar Cynthia Bailey

Porsha Williams is teasing the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

The reality star, 43, opened up to people at the American Heart Association (AHA) Red Dress Collection Concert at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on Thursday, Jan. 30 about her return to RHOA after two seasons off. Reflecting on her friendships on the show, Williams says one woman is particularly special to her.

“I can not say enough about Cynthia Bailey,” Williams gushes. “She came back as a friend this season and she is literally the best friend of the show. We’ve had other people, but I felt like when she came back in, she genuinely was interested in what we had going on.”

“She’s that big sis,” she continues. “She wants to fix everything. She’s a confidant, I just love her.”

Williams previously told people that she was apprehensive about returning to the Housewives franchise for its 16th season, saying at Bravo Fan Fest 2024 in November that it felt weird to be back.

“The first day of filming, I kid you not, I felt like a rookie,” she said. “I promise you, I stopped midway, and I was like, ‘Am I supposed to be looking this way?’ ”

She went on to confess that she even had “to stop looking at the camera.” She added, “It took me a minute to recalibrate and make the cameras invisible again.”

Going into the season, the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip star told PEOPLE that she worked on setting boundaries in therapy to help navigate dealing with her divorce from her estranged husband, Simon Guobadia, while filming.

“I really got into therapy and a big part of therapy was her suggesting self-preservation, which is hard to do when you’re in an ensemble cast and you have to speak about your life,” she explained. “But I really had boundaries about what I would open up to with some of the other girls and what I would not.”

She continued, “So just kind of like being and protecting myself, but also being with everyone else has been a good thing for me.”

Bailey, 57, also spoke out about her return as a friend this season, saying it was “amazing” to be back on the hit Bravo show.

“I feel like Atlanta was No. 1 for so long and I felt like we slid down,” she said at the Two Ts in a Pod live podcast event in November. “We were not where I think we should’ve been. It was fun to get back with the girls… There’s something to be said about bringing in some fresh blood and some of the old girls as well.”