‘RHOP’ Alum Candiace Dillard Bassett Announces Birth of First Child

Candiace Dillard Bassett is a happy first time mom. She gave birth to their son, Jett Maxwell Lee, on October 3. The Real Housewives of Potomac alum took viewers on her motherhood journey throughout her six seasons on the show, much of which centered around her hesitations and fears of motherhood due to her own upbringing and sometimes contentious relationship with her mother, Dorothy. She underwent two IVF cycles, and after announcing her exit from the Bravo reality series after the Season 8 reunion, the “Drive Back” singer announced she was expecting her first child with her husband, Chris.

“He is just the cutest little thing,” she tells PEOPLE in an exclusive. “Chris and I couldn’t be happier. It’s so cliché to say, but he’s brought such joy to our lives in ways I never would have been able to describe before. It’s pure love!”

“I just look at him and envision all the adventures we’re going to have,” she continues. “Throughout my pregnancy, when I would talk to him in my stomach, I would say, ‘I can’t wait to see who you’re going to be.’ And that’s been the joy in my heart that’s continued after his birth. It’s exciting to think about. I’m so ready for a lifetime of being on the sidelines, cheering him on.”

She had a hard time picking out a name for her little one, but once she settled on one, she committed. “The meaning of his name was really important to me. I mean, there were a lot of names I liked that had meanings I did not like, so that just automatically tossed them out,” she remembers. “But as soon as I read the meaning of his name, I was like, ‘This is it. This is his name.’”

“Naming him took longer than I thought,” she explains. “I had been throwing names out to Chris the entire pregnancy and most of the ones I liked he was like, “Those sound like nepo baby names.’ And I was like, ‘Why are you just trying to kill my vibe?’ But Chris agreed with Jett. He was like, ‘Jett’s a cool name, he’s going to be a cool kid. They can call him J.B.’”

As for whether she’ll have any more children, she says that’s already the plan. “Oh, I wish I started sooner, because I already want more,” Candiace happily shared. “And that’s a shocking feeling to admit because I hesitated and was afraid and doubted myself for so long. All of those circumstances around becoming a mom, like being pregnant, raising a child, etc.? It really scared me. But it’s been everything and more. I love it.”

“I wish I hadn’t waited so long,” she remembers. “But I also don’t regret that this is where I am now and that things worked out the way they did. And in a way, that’s comforting to recognize I don’t regret it, you know? Like, I’ve really welcomed every part of this journey with open arms, as it’s happened.”