Candiace Dillard Bassett Happy She Left ‘RHOP’ to Focus on Pregnancy (Exclusive)

Candiace Dillard Bassett has no regrets about putting down her champagne flute.

The Real Housewives of Potomac alum, 37, tells PEOPLE exclusively that she is “so happy” she left the Bravo reality series after Season 8 wrapped to focus on her pregnancy. Candiace and husband Chris Bassett welcomed their first child together, son Jett Maxwell Lee Bassett, last month.

The former reality star says stepping away from the show — and its on-screen drama — allowed her to enjoy a calmer, easier pregnancy.

“I’m just so happy and content and content with how gentle my pregnancy was. It was relaxing and friendly and beautiful and fun and just spoiled,” says Candiace, who has appeared in six seasons of RHOP before announcing her departure in March.

“It was all because I literally did whatever I wanted,” she continues. “Exercising was so empowering. I would eat whatever I wanted, demand whatever food I wanted from my husband, and he would run to the store at midnight to get whatever I needed. It was amazing.”

Candiace says she was surprised when she discovered how much she “loved” being pregnant. “I thought I would hate it,” she admits. “And I was so afraid of getting sick and not accepting the changes in my body and all the unknown things you read about.”

When she thinks about how different her pregnancy experience would have been if she had continued filming for Season 9 RHOPCandiace insists, “I don’t know if I could have made it.”

“I know I wouldn’t have had that [positive] experience if I had gone through my pregnancy, the meat of my pregnancy, that is the second trimester, that is the time when you are no longer sick [and] your energy comes back, so to speak,” she explains. “That’s when you can really thrive. And I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. I would have been robbed of what was out there the best experience of my life [Jett] be born.”

Candiace tells PEOPLE that she has absolutely no regrets about her decision to leave the Bravo franchise. ‘None. Not one,” she says. “I don’t watch the show just because there’s so much going on, but I hear people love it so I’m glad to hear it’s going well.”

As for what she took away from her time on the show, she says it’s a sense of pride. “I’m part of the legacy of Potomac and no one can ever take that away from me,” she notes. “And it’s something I’m very proud of, having been part of building this incredible legacy.”

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Shortly after announcing her pregnancy in April, Candiace said Entertainment tonight that her baby on the way was “95 percent” the reason she withdrew RHOP.

“I really believed that I wanted to create a space not only for the baby, but for me – for us – for this time in our lives,” she said at the time. “I wanted the space around us and around our child to feel peaceful, free and positive, without any extra pressure, good, bad or indifferent to the show.”

“I didn’t feel confident that I could have that in the space that the show currently exists in. It was a no-brainer,” she added.

Candiace revealed the news of her baby boy’s Oct. 3 arrival exclusively to PEOPLE earlier this month, sharing sweet photos of her new family of three.

Describing her son as “just the cutest little thing,” she said, “Chris and I couldn’t be happier.” It’s so cliché to say, but he has brought so much joy to our lives in ways I could never have described before. . It’s pure love!”

She added: “I just look at him and imagine all the adventures we’re going to have.”