Candiace Dillard Bassett might not “Drive Back” to #RHOP for season 9, but she’s embarking on a new journey; motherhood.
On Monday, the departing Real Housewives of Potomac star, 37, exclusively told ET she’s expecting her first child with husband Chris Bassett, 46. She also added that it’s 95% of the reason why she quit the show.
Source: Charles Sykes / Bravo
“I am about 13 weeks … so just about into the second trimester. It’s been weird, but also really wonderful, I think, to keep it kind of to ourselves to this point,” said Candiace.
“Our immediate family knows, my mom — I told my mom on her birthday in February — my dad knows, [Chris’] parents know, my siblings know and that is my core, best friend group, but outside of that it’s just been, like, kind of quietly just growing a bun.”
The news was also confirmed in a sweet video showcasing Candiace sharing the news with Chris at their Potomac home.
Candiace told ET that her hubby told her he wanted them to have a child before his 50th birthday and after battling anxiety about becoming a mother, she agreed to use one of the embryos they froze two years ago.
This will be Chris’ fourth child, Candiace’s first.
“I always wondered, like, how would I know when I was ready?” said Candiace. “And 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.”
“I kind of woke up and realized that I was never going to be 100 percent ready,” she added. “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.”
Source: Charles Sykes / Bravo
The singer also shared that she underwent IVF implantation in January and found out the news about her pregnancy two weeks later. That would mean that when she announced her departure from The Real Housewives of Potomac she was already expecting.
She added to ET that her pregnancy 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,” said Candiace. “I wanted the space around us and around our child to feel peaceful and to feel free and to feel positive,” she said, “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 and Chris also shared that they don’t know whether they’re having a boy or a girl; they had one male embryo and one female embryo, but they’ll know before it’s time to give birth.
“So, the doctors know,” Chris explained. “We did all the tests. Obviously, we wanted something healthy … and I was like, listen, let’s just take the highest graded egg and we’ll put it in there, and this is the one surprise of this whole experience, that we don’t know yet.”
On #RHOP Candiace documented the prep work that went into in vitro fertilization and filmed counseling sessions with fertility specialists. Most recently, Candiace was seen in tears telling her therapist that she “really wanted a baby.”
“What’s the most important thing to you at this stage today? What do you really want?” asked Dr. Ken.
“I want a baby,” said the #RHOP star. “I want a child, I think about it all the time.”
Wish granted!
Congrats to Candiace Dillard Bassett and Chris Bassett!