RHOP's Candiace Dillard Bassett Says Pregnancy Is '95 Percent' of Reason Behind Her Show Exit

Candiace Dilliard Bassett is sharing how her pregnancy directly influenced her decision to leave RHOP. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the reality star -- who is expecting her first child with husband Chris Bassett -- revealed her pregnancy was "95 percent" of the reason behind her exit from the Bravo series. "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 said. "I wanted the space around us and around our child to feel peaceful and to feel free and to feel positive, without any added pressure, good, bad or indifferent from the show," she continued. "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 -- who was open about her fertility journey on RHOP -- added that she wants her pregnancy to be her priority. "I would have nightmares about it not working," she said. "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." While her journey on The Real Housewives of Potomac may be over, Candiace Dillard Bassett's journey into motherhood is just beginning. In fact, she's still many months away as the reality star announced she's pregnant with her first child with husband Chris Bassett. The couple has been sharing their fertility process on television during her time on RHOP. Now, as she tells Entertainment Tonight, Candiace is heading into the second trimester of her pregnancy after undergoing successful implantation in surgery. The couple used an embryo harvested and frozen two years ago. With about four years to go before her "cut-off date" -- which would have been when Chris turns 50 -- the 37-year-old said she "got the itch." She'd been wondering how she might know when she was ready until she realized one day, "I was never going to be 100 percent ready." "I always felt like a part of my anxiety was that I wasn't sure that I would know, and when I knew, it was undeniable," she told ET. "I just had to ... trust the process and trust my doctors and stop being afraid and just do it." "So once we decided together that we were going to do that -- together -- it just was kind of all moving by faith from there," she continued. The reality star marveled that after two rounds of egg retrieval, a year of taking shots every day, "and to finally have it all pay off was amazing." They are keeping one surprise, though, even from themselves. "The doctors know," Candiace said of their baby's sex. They knew they had one male and one female embryo, but don't yet know which one she is carrying. That said, they do plan to find out before the baby is born. Still, Candiace is feeling confident already that regardless of the sex of her baby, "signs are pointing to them being more like Chris than me." What signs could a pre-birth baby give? This little one is "laid back." "We're trying to get them to move for the sonogram and they were, like, being camera shy, because before the camera came out they were moving around and they pulled out the camera and they were like, 'Nope!'" she told ET. She's also looking way, way ahead, talking about being scared to help her child with their math homework, and wondering what sport they might be interested in. Chris, who has three children from a previous relationship, says his motivation is to "stay engaged," considering this is Candiace's first pregnancy. "I've gotta be super supportive for her and she's gonna need that all the way through," eh said. " So, that's kind of what I'm looking forward to, just to share it and experience it with Candiace and just see where it goes." As for Candiace, she said more than once she's "just looking forward to meeting them." She wants to be able to hold her baby, to watch them grow into whoever they're going to be and be right there "cheering and yelling and ready to fight the referee!" The announcement comes exactly three weeks after Candiace shared that she was parting ways with RHOP after "six remarkable years." She told People she was exiting due to "a whirlwind of new opportunities and responsibilities on my plate," though she hesitated to say it was permanent. Calling it "a break," Candiace told the outlet, "This is not a farewell, but a 'see you later.'" Her departure preceded that of OG cast member Cynthia Dixon, who announced she was "fired" from the show after eight seasons the same day as Candiace's baby news.