All About Porsha Williams' Daughter Pilar

Porsha Williams shares her daughter with ex Dennis McKinley

Porsha Williams may be best known for the near decade she has starred in The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but since the birth of her daughter, being a mom has been her first priority.

The reality TV star welcomed her first and only child, Pilar Jhena McKinley, 5, on March 22, 2019, with her ex Dennis McKinley. The two were engaged when Williams was pregnant with Pilar in September 2018 but were on-and-off until they split for good in 2020. Williams went on to marry Nigerian businessman Simon Guobadia in November 2022 before filing for divorce in February 2024.

Williams has maintained a positive co-parenting relationship with McKinley, however, and the two work to provide a solid partnership for their daughter.

Related: Who Is Porsha Williams' Husband? All About Simon Guobadia

“It’s going great, it really is,” Williams said on Watch What Happens Live in June 2023. “Yeah, we live near each other. Our relationship is good.”

For Williams, the focus is always on her daughter, whom she has called her main motivator in all that she does.

“Having a daughter, having a child, period, for most moms, she's just the light of my life,” she told PEOPLE in October 2023. “She is the reason why I do everything. And for me, whenever I go out there in the world, I try to represent for her and be the best mom out there.”

From her love for ballet to how she “runs the house,” here’s everything to know about Porsha Williams’ daughter, Pilar.

She was born in March 2019

Williams and McKinley’s rep exclusively confirmed to PEOPLE on March 22, 2019, that the former couple had given birth to a baby girl, Pilar Jhena McKinley.

She was born at 1:36 p.m., weighing 6 lbs., 15 oz., and measuring 20 inches long.

“What a time to be alive! Porsha and I are so happy and blessed to announce the arrival of our daughter, Baby PJ,” the Dish Nation host and McKinley told PEOPLE. “We couldn’t have imagined a more magical moment! Can’t thank everyone enough for joining us on this journey — it’s been a fantastic journey.”

A month after giving birth, Williams gave PEOPLE an update on how her baby was doing and the struggles she faced during her cesarean section.

“She’s everything I ever wanted and I still can’t believe she’s here,” she said. “It’s been really, really good. Baby PJ is well adjusted and I’ve got her to a month now; she just had her month celebration. So we’re making it!”

She added that she was recovering from her C-section as well, which was “difficult” for her to undergo.

“A lot of people think that C-sections are easy — an easier way to give birth. But I assure you, it is full, serious surgery,” Williams said. “It was difficult! Even recovery — healing from the cut and taking care of a newborn while being on pain medication and dealing with your body’s shock of having just had a baby. I’m doing pretty good now, but it was just a lot.”

She struggled to breastfeed at first

In addition to recovering from her surgery, Williams also told PEOPLE that she struggled with the fact that her body didn’t produce enough milk to breastfeed Pilar.

She said having to supplement her baby with formula was the “hardest part” of new motherhood, but it was something she was able to accept.

“It was something I was pretty nonchalant about in the beginning. Like, ‘Okay, if I can breastfeed, that’s fine. If not, I’ll put her on formula.’ It was that simple,” Williams said. “But once she got here and you’re looking at your daughter, you want to give her the world. You want her to have everything that’s the best for her. So it was really difficult for me to come to the realization that I couldn’t pump enough milk for her.”

Pilar loves to style herself

Pilar may only be 5 years old, but she already has a strong sense of who she is and what she likes to wear. Williams told PEOPLE in October 2023 that even though she may have a vision for Pilar to wear dresses, if that’s not what the little girl wants, she won’t wear it.

"Oh my gosh, I have no control anymore," she said of styling her daughter. "I was just saying that I am all into princess dresses and any kind of dress, and right now she is against all of that."

"She wants to wear pants, and if I don't hurry up and put some pants on her, then she's like, 'I want black pants.' Then it goes to the [other] color, and that's a whole other thing. So she's very strong-minded about her fashion sense and everything at this point,” she said.

She has a strong personality

In March 2023, shortly after her 4th birthday, Williams told PEOPLE that Pilar “runs the house” and is a mini-version of her.

"Sometimes I have to just pause when we're walking upstairs, and she's bossing me. I'm like, 'Really? Wow, you just going to raise hell all over again. Dang,' " she said. "We don't even really call her PJ, a lot of times. We just call her little P, or PP, because it's like you're just little Porsha."

Despite her sassiness at times, Williams said she loves having a daughter who “really shows her personality.”

"She's strong-minded. She's silly. I love that about her. She's so silly. She likes to prank you and tease you," she said.

She was part of a blended family

Originally, Williams was stressed about how her split with McKinley would affect Pilar, she told PEOPLE, but after she married Guobadia when Pilar was 3 ½ years old, she felt better about the expansion of her family.

Guabadia has five children of his own, with Pilar being the youngest of her new siblings — and she loved it.

“I mean, she was an only child, to boom. She's got two sisters and three brothers overnight. And they're so patient and loving with her," Williams said in March 2023.

"She's the youngest running around the house, so they have to practice patience with her,” she added.

As for her co-parenting relationship with McKinley, Williams said the two were making it work since they lived near each other.

"When you first go through some rough patches in life, it's like, 'Oh, Lord,’ ” she said. “You start thinking about the worst for your child, the worst situation they're going to end up in, when in actuality, she has so much more where we are now."

She loves ballet

One of Pilar’s favorite hobbies is ballet and her mom is proud to show off her skills on Instagram.

Pilar started dancing when she was 3 years old, with her mom marking the occasion of them buying her first ballet shoes on Instagram.

In April 2023, Pilar had her first recital and both of her parents came out in support of her. Williams posted a video compilation of the special day, including her posing with Pilar and McKinley on Instagram.

“It’s @Pilarjhena 1st Ballet recital 🩰🩰!! We are so proud of our baby!! 💞💕,” she wrote in the caption. “I can report that although she was nervous your insa-neice [sic] killed it !!”

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