'Empire Star' -- Cookie and Porsha Met At A Strip Club ... Or Was It In Prison?

Empire star Ta'Rhonda Jones says she and cast mate Taraji P. Henson think the stripper poles and jails cells aligned when their show characters first met.

Jones is set to appear on Matt Weiss and Theo Von's "Allegedly" podcast this week and she's asked how she thinks Porsha and Cookie met. It's interesting ... Jones thinks they would've met in prison and Henson believes it would've definitely been in a strip club.

Either way ... the two certainly make an interesting duo.