Christina Aguilera Shares Her Favorite Thing About ‘Special Bond’ with Sabrina Carpenter: ‘An Easy Connection’ (Exclusive)

Christina Aguilera and Sabrina Carpenter are two peas in a pod!

Days after sharing the stage at Carpenter’s concert, Aguilera is opening up to PEOPLE about her admiration for her fellow blonde bombshell.

“I’ve grown such a special bond with Sabrina over the past few months and truly love seeing her kill it out there,” Aguilera, who attended the grand opening of H&M’s new flagship store in Times Square on Thursday, Nov. 21, says. “I have so much respect and love for what it takes to uphold the schedule and the touring demands that pop star life comes with.”

The “Beautiful” singer, 43, knows a thing or two about Carpenter’s touring schedule, as she joined the “Espresso” singer at a recent tour stop in Los Angeles to perform two of her biggest hits. On Friday, Nov. 15, Aguilera made a surprise appearance at Carpenter’s show at Crypto.com Arena to sing “Ain’t No Other Man” and “What a Girl Wants.”

“Her poise and composed stamina is always a pleasure to work with, and we always have so much fun together. It’s an easy connection,” Aguilera says. “The fans have been so incredible as well, adding so much love to all we do together! I love loyal ones who ride for their queen, so it’s been lovely to witness and it warms my heart!”

Carpenter has previously been open in her own admiration for Aguilera, and when she welcomed her to the stage in Los Angeles, called the star “one of my biggest idols.”

After the performance, the two shared a hug, and Aguilera told Carpenter, “I love you so much.” The next day, Carpenter reflected on the moment, writing on Instagram, “Thank you @xtina for coming out last night, giving everyone (me included) the surprise of our lives, and for being one of the main reasons i love + wanted to make pop music, i adore you to no end!!!!!!”

The pair first teamed up in September as part of a Spotify collaboration celebrating the 25th anniversary of Aguilera’s self-titled debut album. Together, they performed “What a Girl Wants” while seated on a couch, with Carpenter handling the second verse.

“I think the first time I ever heard your voice was [when] my mom played me a video of you singing at eight years old, ‘A Sunday Kind of Love’, ” Carpenter told Aguilera, referring to her appearance on Star Search in 1990, where she sang a version of Etta James’ classic. “That was the most inspiring thing for me ever to see as a young girl that wanted to sing, but just didn’t think I could do it at that age.”

Aguilera also wrote a sweet piece on Carpenter in celebration of the star being included in the TIME100 Next List.

“When we met, the woman I discovered was refreshingly calm, collected, down to earth, and focused,” Aguilera wrote. “Sabrina is where she is for a reason and ahead of her years.”