Cynthia Bailey stars in "Terry McMillan Presents: Paradise With You"

You just kicked sand all over me. Can I make this up to you? Would you like to have dinner with me? A date? Was that Carter Wesley? Yes. That's your nephew's favorite running back. I don't know who I am without football. It's a new beginning. I'm embarrassingly out of practice. I probably don't even remember. Let's go to bed. Love, romance, and a little island drama. An NFL superstar nearing retirement heads to the Caribbean for a fresh start, but an unexpected romance turns paradise into a bit of a complicated situation. So joining us this morning is actress, model, and Real Housewives of Atlanta favorite Cynthia Bailey. She stars in the new Lifetime movie. Tara McMillan presents Paradise with you, a premiere Saturday night on Lifetime. So I guess I also should have said Good Day favorite Cynthia Bailey is here. Yes, it's good to see you. Always good to see you guys. Good to see you. Okay, we got to start with this. So your role in this, you play Amber. Yes. Tell us about Amber. Tell us about this movie. Okay, so I am the sister to the star of the show, our beautiful lead, Heather Hemmons. She is, like what you said, this is about love and betrayal and drama, which I'm no stranger to that in my real life. So that was an easy person to come and be able to relate to that. Oh boy. But anyway, she is betrayed. by her husband and loses all her stuff and then she goes to this beautiful island of Nevis. To figure it all out. I go there to support her. I don't want to get too much further than that, but just know that this is all about love. It's a love story at the end of the day. It's a love story. And I'm thinking like a sisterly role. Is this the traditional sisterly role where you're offering advice and that kind of thing? Like we, we see you being a sis. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And a friend, you know, has to be a friend. I go there to just be supportive, give her support, give her love, give her strength, give her encouragement because She's like really, you know how it is when you're on top of the world and then everything falls from underneath you? Yeah. She's having that moment. So this is like a big change of life moment for her. And she just has to make the right choice. And I guide her towards, Peace and happiness and love. This sounds perfect for you. It really does. It kind of feels like my life happened. Yeah, it does. But all those things you're saying, you know, the guiding, the being, I feel like this is the perfect role for you. So it sounds like a movie we're going to love. But on top of that, you've got a lot of people running around. This is beautiful people in this project. Like, I mean, they really crammed all of y'all in there together, Cynthia. Oh, no, for sure. You know, Taye Diggs is our leading man. You can't go wrong with Taye. He's so funny. He's so handsome, so charismatic. And I love Terry McMillan. I've read all the books. She is the author that brought us Waiting to Exhale, which is one of my favorites. So I'm really honored to be... To be a part of bringing this movie to life. Absolutely. So I can imagine, you know, getting to shoot in Nevis. Come on. Yes, yes. I mean, it literally is paradise. Yeah. It's a cute little island right off St. Croix. I had never been there before. Definitely plan to go back. Yeah. But just gorgeous, beautiful backdrop, you know, great team. It took us a couple of weeks to shoot it. And shout out to Ninth House and Lifetime for just trusting me to help bring it to life. Sure. I love a Lifetime movie. Me too, it's my favorite thing. Aren't they great? Yes, it's my favorite way to decompress, because I have a lot of drama with these land house wives. We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that. But they feel so low commitment, but they're all engrossing, and they're fantastic. But I was going to say, you're no stranger to them. I mean, you've been in Lifetime with people before. I have. Actually, I did my first movie with Lifetime, Cruel Instructions. Was it Cruel Instructions? Yeah, Cruel Instructions. And, um... I feel like I'm a part of the family. It's like such a full circle moment for me because when my mom comes over, my sister comes over, even Noel, we like, again, that's our favorite way to just spend family time and watch a bunch of Lifetime movies. Those are the movies that are on. Yeah, they feel good. Yeah, they think a lot of us are with you. You know, you can relate. I mean, some of them get a little crazy. I'm telling you. But, you know, life gets a little crazy. Right. So I just lean into it all. And that's why we love them. Yes. That's why we love it. So this one sounds fantastic. I can't wait to see you in this one this weekend. Thank you. Let's talk about you, though. You know, Real Housewives of Atlanta, what are we, season 17? Season 18. Season 18. 18, I'm behind. Okay, so you're filming 18. We're filming 18 right now. What's going on? You're always kind of that steady. I know, and that's the thing. And it's like, you know, when you were talking about the movie, I feel like once again, you know, you are the friend here. I am. You're the one keeping the peace. I am. I am trying. You're trying. I am trying. So we're in the middle of filming, like I said. And I think it's going to be a great season. We're about halfway through. Last season was amazing. Yeah. And we're just still getting to know each other. Like, I play a sister in a movie, and it really is a sisterhood, like I said, a friendship as well. So, yeah, I don't want to get too much into Atlanta, you know, I can't talk about it too much, but just know that we are fully in it, and you guys will not be disappointed for season 18. Cynthia, y'all never disappoint. I know. It's never disappointing. And I love my space as the friend of the show. Like, honestly, you know, I am the inventor and creator of the friend contract, so I literally manifested this for my life at this point. So, I'm really This is, I love it here. Very nice. All right, edge of our seat. Looking forward to season 18. We got to talk about, too, Glowissima. Yes, Glowissima. Did I say that right? Yes, you said it right. Tell me about that. Thank you. Well, I basically, you know, as a beauty brand, my longtime friend Dana Hill and I, we started a skincare line together. We have two products, an amazing face oil, which I have to give you, and a wonderful moisturizer. We're building it out with other products. We're doing some really interesting collaborations that are coming up with some big stores, So I'll be talking about that later. You know how it goes. But it's doing well. Like, I love, you know, having to be glammed all the time. Like, taking care of my actual skin has always been a priority to me. And I do not wear makeup when I do not work. Do you really not? Never. I don't fly with makeup. Like, I literally, if I didn't have anything to do after this, I would have wipes in the car and I would take it all off. Really? Oh, yeah. I am a skin girl through and through. Oh, absolutely. It's like freedom. It's like you just take it all off because this is almost like a... Not really a mask, but a costume. Like, you know, wigs, the makeup, the lashes. Like, I love the real me underneath all of this. One is that we didn't love you enough. Then you go and throw that into the mix, and it's like, now we really, really love you. So very, very cool. And I was going to actually ask you for, like, some of your beauty tips. I'd say that's probably one of your big ones. Yeah, just taking glam breaks, you know, for, I mean, even for you. Like, this is a part of our job. Sure. And to be able to just not do it, you know, taking breaks is, I think, is really helpful. Yeah, I love it. You know, I feel like you have done such a great job, Cynthia, in reinventing yourself beyond just one thing. You're not just the model. You're not just the reality star. You're not just a movie star. I love a good pivot. Yeah, but everything that you do seems to make sense for what you... Yeah, it all just kind of fits together so well. Intentional, I can imagine. Yes, yes, it does. You know what? I have had an amazing career. I am super focused on it still, even at this great age in my life. I'm on my road to 60. And I thought, like, you know, years ago, I'd be wrapping things up, but I feel like, honestly, like this movie that I was just in, I have a podcast, I'm, you know, I'm coming up on, I just filmed Traitors, like, it just, oh, I'm doing a play in New York. Are you serious? Yes, yes, in New York next year, I'll be doing a play. Wow. Is there something about a book, too? Oh, are you working? Well, that's coming. Honestly, that's coming as well. I honestly haven't had time to really start that yet, because I thought things were kind of slowing down, but they're actually picking up. And I love that because I'm really I really love representing women of my age range. I love being in the space of motivation and inspiration just to let people know, hey, getting older is a luxury, what I thought 60 would look like. It's like I feel and look better than I did in my 30s. And I think that's a blessing. Gorgeous. We can all agree with you on that one. So it gets greater later. In the words of my girl, Baby Smith, it does really get greater later. I love it. We love getting to see you on our screens. I personally love when you're here with us on Good Day on the Couch, just as real in person as what people would imagine that you are. So what a treat for us. Cynthia, thank you so much for stopping in. You're welcome. We appreciate it. You have a chance to watch her. Terry McMillan presents Paradise With You. It premieres Saturday at 8 p.m.