Ashley Darby Admits She Almost Quit 'RHOP' Ahead Of Season Five, Find Out Why She Returned

Gettyimages | Bravo

Ashley Darby nearly didn't return to "The Real Housewives of Potomac" after welcoming her first child, a son named Dean, with husbandMichael Darby in July of last year.

During an interview with Hollywood Life on August 19, Ashley explained why she initially felt as if she could not be filmed for the new episodes.

“I actually almost didn’t do the show because I was feeling like there was no way I could share [my postpartum depression battle],” Ashley revealed on the outlet's latest episode of TVTalk.

Ashley Darby | Instagram

“There’s no way that I could let a camera crew into my house. I was feeling so anti. It took a little bit of convincing for me to get back on the train, but now I’m on full swing, choo choo, but I almost wasn’t,” Ashley explained.

Luckily, she had a solid support system.

“It was a lot of people. I didn’t realize how much support I had and how strong my tribe was until I expressed what I was going through and yes, all of the ladies reached out to me almost and my husband was supportive, my mom, my friends,” the Maryland native said.

Ashley Darby | Instagram

“I actually get emotional thinking about it because those people care about me more than I even knew and it spoke volumes. When I couldn’t give anything in return, they were all giving to me and that meant so much to me," Ashley continued.

Although Ashley went through some challenging moments after becoming a mom last year, she said she was not “nervous” to share her ups and downs with her fans.

“I’m not nervous to relive it because I’ve made a lot of progress with it,” she explained.

Ashley Darby | Instagram

Following the birth of her son, Ashley was able to drop a lot of weight, and, as Hollywood Life revealed, she showed off her incredible weight loss in November of last year while attending the BravoCon fan convention.

“After Dean was born, I lived in this euphoric, just so happy state and then once real life hit and I realized that I had to function like an adult and I had all these other responsibilities, it all just became very overwhelming,” Ashley continued of her postpartum experience.

Ashley Darby | Instagram

“I started feeling like I wasn’t able to balance being a woman and a mother. I felt like I was only a mother and it was just the most all consuming fear for my child about everything else that could happen. In the newborn bubble, people respect that you are together when it’s just you and the baby but then real life hits and they expect you to be out and open and that was very challenging for me,” she added.

"The Real Housewives of Potomac"season five airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Bravo.