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She was gutsy in the teen drama series "Gossip Girl," after appearing in the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live." Tika Sumpter really didn't take no stuff as Dee, sister to Jordin Sparks and Carmen Ejogo and daughter to Miss Whitney Houston, in Sparkle. Now her sights are set on re-claiming her role as Candace Young on the OWN's "The Haves and the Have Nots" while awaiting the debut of her latest film, starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, Ride Along.

"There's gonna be a lot of guest stars, which I'm excited about," Tika told Sister 2 Sister about 'The Haves and the Have Nots' season 2. "They fill out the story line of each person and everybody can get dirty this season, everybody," she said.

"Even though I was the flame that sparked it off, you're gonna get to see everybody's true characters." Viewers should brace themselves for some "real backstory on Candace," Tika adds. "I'm excited for you guys to see it!"

Tika takes the comparisons between "The Haves" and TV's runaway hit "Scandal" in stride. "I think that Kerry Washington and Ms. Shonda [Rhimes], they definitely opened it up where people are like, 'Good…we wanna see something else!' And I'm just grateful to them for that," said Tika who isn't taking her opportunities for granted. "There are many shows on major networks that get canceled all the time and on cable as well. I think cable opened it up, but you never know as an actor and I'm just grateful that we have a great following and fans love it and they want more. So I'm excited for everybody to finally get their fill."

This January, Tika co-stars with Kevin and Ice Cube in the film Ride Along. In the movie, Kevin (Ben) plays the boyfriend to Tika's character, Angela. In a desperate effort to prove his true love to Angela, Kevin's character joins Ice Cube (Detective James) on a 24- hour police patrol through the streets of Atlanta. Let the fun begin!

"Kevin is crazy," Tika said. "He's like a crazy genius and he's been hustling hard for years. And to see him on set, just creating his own genius and not only being a businessman, but he's a really creative character. So I just got to sit, watch and laugh and take notes because I didn't have to be the funny one. So I let him do his thing and he let me do my thing. And it was just fun to collaborate with him even though some of the things, I think, didn't even make it on film."

Tika took a moment to reminisce about her time with Whitney Houston, while filming Sparkle. "First of all, she was just like comforting and motherly," Tika said. "That's how she treated us. And I just remember sitting in a corner, waiting for the lights to be fixed and all the cameras to get in place. I was just quietly sitting there and she comes over there and she's like, 'Baby…are you okay…Do I need to go talk to somebody about something?' And I was like…'No.' She was like, 'Well…I'm just checking.' And I'm like Whitney Houston just checked on me and that's just who she was. She was somebody who had people's back and she went to work with people and love them up. She was very motherly."

When Tika is not acting or walking on the red carpet, she likes to chill and stay at home. "I'm a homebody," she says. "I am happy at home, watching movies, eating popcorn, making food, or making hot chocolate and just kicking it."

As for her romantic life, the sexy actress is 'Riding' solo in her personal life. "The perfect thing would be to have somebody else to enjoy that with me, but I love reading books at home. I just enjoy my home and I enjoy my space. You may see me in a club or something once in a while because I love to dance and I love to be out, but I love being at home!"

"The Have and Have Nots" returns Tuesday (Jan 7) on OWN.