Porsha and Lauren Williams Share New Insight on Their Relationship and Childhood

Porsha Williams experienced an emotional moment with her family in the latest episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

In the January 10 episode of RHOA, Porsha enlisted the help of her sister, Lauren, and mom, Diane, to talk through some of the most formative moments of her life as she works on her upcoming book.

Porsha started opening up about dealing with her parents' divorce when she was around 3 years old. "It was just kind of confusing at first, because I had my home with Mommy that felt complete, solid," Porsha recalled. "And then over here with Dad was another home that could be complete and solid, and why am I going in between?"

Porsha then shared more about growing up with her dad, Hosea Williams II, and Lauren. "Lauren and I are half-sisters. We share the same dad," she explained in an interview during the episode. "She's lived with Daddy, and I more so came over on the weekends, but saying 'half-anything' would get you a spanking in the house."

The impact of her parents' divorce wasn't felt until after her father passed away in 1998, according to Porsha. "But, unfortunately, once he died, and I'm in those years of 17 when you're starting to date and all of that, he wasn't here. He died," Porsha told Lauren and Diane. "That mindset of me just having a skeleton idea of what 'a man' should be led me into seriously abusive situations."

Porsha then reflected on co-parenting daughter Pilar Jhena, who turns 2 in March, with Dennis McKinley after she confirmed their split earlier this season of RHOA. "When it comes to PJ, the parts that I do get sad, you know, I do wish we could have worked out for Dennis to be in the house," Porsha said. "But when I look at it, I know that Dennis is such a powerful father figure. I honestly feel like as much as I'm gonna put into her to know about the real s--t in the world, he will, too."

Diane said that she and Porsha's dad "always knew we needed to be civil for the kids" as they co-parented following their divorce. In fact, Diane said that she even had a good relationship with Lauren's mom, Lisa. "This is no lie, when I knew he found Lisa, I wanted them to be a happy family," Diane shared. "Actually, Lisa and I started being friends."

Lauren, who was 10 when her father passed away, shared some of her memories of her dad. "I remember him waking up in the morning, kissing me on the forehead, and going to work, not coming back until it was time to go to bed," she said. "So he was very consistently there, definitely. But I don't know how to compare that to you [Porsha] because you were in a whole other household, and you only saw him on the weekends."

Porsha then broke into tears, and Lauren and Diane comforted her. "When I was younger, I really didn't think about the impact of not having my dad in the house," Porsha shared in an interview during the episode. "So it's not until now doing something like my book with my mom and my sister I am realizing I was lacking something."

So, Porsha said that she is going to ensure that Dennis is always in daughter PJ's life, regardless of their relationship status. "I feel like I definitely pushed to make my relationship work with Dennis, not only because I love him to death, but [also] because I want Pilar to be close with him," Porsha said in an interview during the episode. "I don't want her to miss a beat in his parenting."

While talking with Porsha, Diane remarked that Lauren "experienced a whole different dad than you," before noting, "This is a lot that I protected you from, and you'll do the same for yours, just like I did for you." 

Following this emotional episode of RHOA, Lauren showed some love for Porsha in a touching post on Instagram. "My absolute favorite person to travel with, get lost with, cry with and even just sit on the couch with and laugh for hours," Lauren gushed about Porsha in a post on January 10. "I pray God blesses everyone with a 'person.' She’s mine."

Lauren previously shared why she will always support her sister following the January 3 episode of RHOA in which there was some drama over uninviting Kenya Moore to a party celebrating Porsha's work in the Black Lives Matter movement. "She has had my back since sleeping in [the] hospital waiting room with me the night daddy died, to the day we buried him (pictured), to sleeping on the hospital floor while I was in labor with Bales, and everyday since then," Lauren wrote. "I’ll protect her at all costs everytime. That will never change."

Want more RHOA? New episodes air every Sunday at 8/7c or catch up through the Bravo app.