The newly pregnant 'Real Housewives of Potomac' star reflects on her decision to exit the Bravo series after six years.
Candiace Dillard Bassett may not interact with Sesame Street characters IRL, but she'll soon be watching some on TV.
The Real Housewives of Potomac star, 37, exclusively broke the news to ET that she's expecting her first child with husband Chris Bassett, 46, just weeks following announcing her exit from the Bravo series after six seasons. Now, she says, her baby is "95 percent" of the reason why she decided to hand in her champagne flute.
"I was really adamant about creating a space for not just the baby, but for me -- for us -- for this time in our lives," Candiace shares with ET, sitting down alongside Chris.
"I wanted the space around us and around our child to feel peaceful and to feel free and to feel positive," she says, "without any added pressure, good, bad or indifferent from the show. I was not confident that I could have that in the space that the show exists in, currently. It was kind of a no-brainer."
Candiace says, when she first underwent IVF implantation, she thought she could make it work; but the more real her pregnancy became, the more she realized RHOP would not serve her in this next chapter of her life. Per People, which broke the news of Candiace's departure, the decision was fully made by her; she was not fired.
"I would have nightmares about it not working," she reveals. "I could maybe only [be pregnant] once, like, who knows? It's such a gift and a blessing, and a really amazing and scary time. I just wanted to experience it free of any unwarranted stuff."
Season 8 of RHOP has been divisive, on a number of levels; the cast split into factions that saw no way forward, leaving viewers torn and disappointed. A fraught, three-part reunion didn't do much to close those divides, especially between Candiace and co-stars Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon.
"I think for me, the the gift and the curse of being Candiace is, I rarely leave things unsaid," she says of the all-cast sit-down special. "I historically cannot go on or move forward without saying exactly how I feel. I do think that I maybe took a sort of different approach at this reunion, at the request of the network, to try and be less vitriolic and more in a space and a spirit of moving forward, and you know, you saw some of that."
"There were things that I would've said had I not been given those directives," she continues, "but at this juncture, it just feels moot. It feels like there isn't anything else to say. I am so removed, mentally, from there, from that ship. I'm in my house on solid ground.
"My hope is that they can unsink themselves," Candiace offers of where the group goes next. Following Candiace's exit announcement, Robyn confirmed she was let go from the show on her podcast (ET's interview with Candiace was conducted prior to Robyn's reveal), and there is a chance more cast changes could come ahead of season 9.
"It wasn't fun to be a part of it, I know I can speak for all of us when I say that -- I can speak for the whole cast," she reflects. "My hope would just be that there can be a dynamic shift, that there can be growth and change and a lightening of things."
"I wish them well," she adds.
When Candiace announced her departure last month, she used the phrase "this is not a farewell, but a 'see you later'" in her statement. She's open to a return in the future, if the circumstances feel right.
"The space just has to be different," Chris explains for Candiace, promising to support her in whatever she decides to do in the future.
"The space would have to be different," Candiace reiterates. "I think time is always a teller of all things."
A different space could also mean a different show; Candiace doesn't scoff at the idea of returning to TV with a series following her and Chris as they raise their first child together.
"I think something like that would be fun," she muses. "We are so grateful to the show and to Bravo and NBCUniversal. We have the gift of having so much of our lives, a huge chunk of our lives as a couple, documented and etched in history forever, and that is so special and so beautiful, and we were both really grateful for everything that we have been able to share with all of the globe."
Much of Candiace and Chris' relationship played out on Housewives; from engagement to wedding and their journey toward parenthood, Bravo cameras were there to capture it all.
"It would be a conversation," Chris interjects, noting he prefers to let Candiace take the spotlight while he hangs out in the background.
"I would have to do a little massaging if something like that were to even come to fruition, which we don't have any plans to do anything like that," Candiace admits. "But yeah, as much as you have seen us go through our engagement and get married and buy our first home together and adjust to being a married couple and go through growing pains and deal with, like, in-law drama and all the things that you have seen us go through as a family, it would be cool to add to the list of our lives together. 'Hey, look! Watch us become parents...' or, 'Watch me become a parent for the first time and keep someone alive.'"
Along with baby, Candiace teases she's working on new music with plans to drop a single before year's end. Her sophomore album should come soon after; she's in final talks with a new record label.
"There are a lot of things, especially for me and this new space of discovering what it's like to become a mom, and a lot of the thoughts that I have even in these last three months that I've been pregnant, that I wanna share, that I want to talk about," she says. "I'm excited at the prospect of many, many, many things."
"Like, what is it like performing pregnant?" she asks. "I do have a few gigs that have been booked, and the people that booked me don't know that I'm pregnant... so, surprise! ... So, what is that like? And I'm excited to go on that journey, and be a baddie -- like I'm still going to the gym. I'm still trying to stay healthy and keep my body intact for hopefully a healthy birth, so I'm trying to do it all."
All episodes of The Real Housewives of Potomac are now streaming on Peacock.
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