Evelyn Lozada Says She's Leaving Basketball Wives After 9 Seasons: 'It's Been Time'

Evelyn Lozada was part of the original cast of Basketball Wives when the VH1 show debuted in 2010 

Evelyn Lozada is parting ways with Basketball Wives after starring on the VH1 series for nine seasons.

The reality star, who joined the show for its first season in 2010, shared the news during an interview with E! Daily Pop Wednesday, telling the outlet that though it was a "hard decision," it's "been time" for her to leave.

"I am no longer going to do Basketball Wives," said Lozada, 45. "I think that it's time for me to open up the universe to other things."

"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," she continued. "I want to open it up to the universe to allow other things to flow in."

Lozada also cited her family as a reason for her departure, noting that her mom felt "relief" when she told her she would no longer be on the show.

Evelyn Lozada. Robin L Marshall/Getty

"Now I have a conscience about what I say and what I do and what my kids are going to see," she said.

Reps for the network and Lozada did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Michael Tullberg/Getty

Lozada has an adult daughter, Shaniece Hairston, from a previous relationship with Jamal Hairston, as well as a 7-year-old son Carl Leo Crawford, whom she shares with MLB player Carl Crawford. Lozada and Crawford got engaged in 2013 but broke things off four years later, in 2017.

She also had a ten-year relationship with NBA player Antoine Walker from 1998 through 2008 and was briefly married to former football star Chad Johnson in 2012.

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The star previously took a break from Basketball Wives in 2015, when she landed her own reality series on OWN, Livin' Lozada, that followed her and her daughter, but she returned in 2017.

"Going from OWN and going back to Basketball Wives, I was so far removed from this type of dynamic with the cast," she told E!. "I did feel like I took a few steps backwards."

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As for whether she would ever return, Lozada said she wants to "take all my energy out" of Basketball Wives.

"If I want to come back I can come back," she said. "I genuinely love the franchise and everyone that puts the show together, I do. I wish them the best, it's just time for evolution — we have to move forward."

Looking ahead, though, Lozada said she wouldn't say no to another reality show, like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

"That's the only one I would probably do," she said.