In a recent podcast appearance, Evelyn Lozada announced that she is leaving Basketball Wives, saying “It’s been a hard decision.”

After nine seasons, Lozada is leaving Basketball Wives behind her but she said the decision wasn’t easy.

In a recent appearance on E! Daily Pop‘s Just The Sip podcast, the reality TV star opened up about her decision to exit the popular series, telling the host Justin Sylvester “It’s been time” for her to leave.

Lozada first appeared on the show in season one in 2010, over 10 years ago.

Evelyn Lozada (Credit: Evelyn Lozada)

Lozada shared, “I am no longer going to do Basketball Wives. I think that it’s time for me to open up the universe to other things.”

She continued, “It’s been a hard decision, because I could do it with my eyes closed, but at the same time it’s so difficult and it takes so much energy, and it’s not the most positive energy. I want to open it up to the universe to allow other things to flow in.”

She said that she’d been thinking about leaving for some time.

“I’ve been feeling conflicted for the last couple of seasons. Miami days, we would have scenes, I didn’t care what happened in that scene…I would walk away! Now I have a conscience on what I say, and what I do, and what my kids are going to see. Although I always deliver, I walk away from it feeling heavy.”

Detailing the pressure that comes with being an “OG” of a show, she explained, “Especially with the OGs, if things are flat, or if you need a moment – we know how this works! So we know what’s needed without you telling us what you need, you know what I mean? I know how this works.”

It takes so much energy to film this show, and I’ve been doing it for a decade now. It can be very exhausting because you don’t know what’s gonna happen, new old characters, what they’re bringing to the table. I’m one of the main characters on the show, so I tend to kind of be a target sometimes! I understand what we do. It hasn’t been easy, but there’s also been a lot of positive things that come from it, you know?”

Lozada did take a break from the show in 2015 when she nabbed her own show on OWN, Livin’ Lozada, that centered on her and her daughter.

The OWN show was short-lived and Lozada returned to Basketball Wives in 2017. Speaking of her return at the time, she shared in the interview, “Going from OWN and going back to Basketball Wives, I was so far removed from this type of dynamic with the cast. I did feel like I took a few steps backwards.” 

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