An Exclusive Look At The Cast Of Bravo’s Next Gen NYC

Step aside, Real Housewives. Bravo’s new show Next Gen NYC shifts the spotlight from some of the most iconic Real Housewives stars to their children, who grew up on camera in front of our eyes. And this time, they’re sharing the limelight with fellow Gen Z New Yorkers as they navigate life’s ups and downs in the Big Apple.

Next Gen NYC follows Gia Giudice, the daughter of New Jersey Housewife Teresa; Riley Burruss, the daughter of Atlanta star Kandi; Ariana Biermann, the daughter of Atlanta Housewife Kim Zolciak; and Brooks Marks, the son of Salt Lake City’s Meredith.

The Bravo kids have made some new friends during their adventures in New York. Also joining the reality TV series are model Ava Dash (the daughter of record exec Damon Dash and Rachel Roy), beauty influencer Emira D’Spain, event planner Georgia McCann, club kid Charlie Zakkour, NY transplant Shai Fruchter, and Ariana’s boyfriend, Hudson McLeroy.

Before the series premieres June 3, get to know this new generation of Bravolebrities with exclusive photos of the cast and interviews with the women of Next Gen NYC.

Gia Giudice

Of all the Bravo kids, Giudice arguably grew up the most on camera. Across 14 seasons of RHONJ, she endured her parents’ jail sentences, endless feuds with her uncle’s family, and, most importantly, “Waking Up in the Morning” going viral more than a decade after she wrote it at 10 years old.

Therefore, hanging out with a new group of friends on Next Gen NYC was a much-needed respite. “It was just a lot more playful and careless and, honestly, just fun,” she tells Bustle. “It wasn’t so serious.”

Thanks to her life in the spotlight, the 24-year-old sees a kindred spirit in Gossip Girl’s Serena van der Woodsen. “Not in her crazy drug era,” she clarifies with a laugh. “I resonate with her a lot because I feel like I’m constantly talked about in the tabloids, but I always do try to come out on the other side and prove to everybody that I work my *ss off and know how to get things done.”

Riley Burruss

Fans knew Burruss as a level-headed presence on RHOA, much like her mother, Kandi. “If you imagine my mom, but in a 21-year-old, that’s how it is,” she says. But she’s looking forward to longtime viewers seeing a new side of her on Next Gen NYC.

“A thing that people say is that they don’t think I talk a lot. They don’t think I really engage in conversations, but I’m a very talkative, silly, funny person,” she says. “I am the girl you go to if you need an opinion, and I think they’re definitely going to see that on the show.”

Brooks Marks

RHOSLC breakout star Marks, 25, might be the glue of Next Gen NYC. He naturally connected with Giudice, Burruss, and Biermann, and he met everyone else within various friend circles as a New York University student, immediately charming them all.

“He’ll actually tell you the story better,” Dash says. “One of our really close friends had a huge 30th birthday party in Miami a couple years ago, and Brooks and I met literally on the dance floor. We just fell in love and were having so much fun together.”

Ariana Biermann

Next Gen NYC serves as a reality TV comeback for Biermann, 23, who grew up on RHOA but last filmed when she was 17 for her family’s Bravo spinoff, Don’t Be Tardy, which ended in 2020. Now, she’s ready for viewers to see her in a new light. “I feel like everyone still sees me like I’m 12 years old,” she says. “They always comment on my Instagrams, ‘You’re 12. Why are you wearing a bikini?’ I’m like, ‘I’m actually a grown woman now.’”

Biermann arrives on the show with her boyfriend of three years, Hudson McLeroy, making her the Next Gen equivalent to Gossip Girl’s central couple. “I always say Hudson’s my Chuck and I’m Blair, but I think I’m a little mix of Serena too,” she says. “I can be a b*tch, and I’m also very nice at my core. When you hurt my feelings or you’re disrespectful, I can flip on a dime.”

Hudson McLeroy

McLeroy moved to NYC alongside Biermann after three years of on-and-off dating, becoming the first in their respective families to leave Atlanta. She’s perhaps most excited for fans to see their next chapter.

“We don’t post the most on social media together,” Biermann says. “I’m excited for people to see our true love after growing up together and being with each other for so many years on and off. I think it’s just going to be cool for people to see who we are together and individually.”

Emira D’Spain

“I love watching reality TV, so I just said, ‘F*ck it, why not do it too?’” D’Spain tells Bustle about her decision to join Next Gen NYC. “I think they’re going to love the looks that I serve and the glam that I give because I go all out and I look f*cking iconic the entire time.”

However, simply watching Bravo shows wasn’t enough to prepare the 28-year-old influencer for filming one. “I expected there to be a lot of starts and stops like, ‘Oh, we need something different.’ But it was very real,” she says. “Everyone really opened up and was 100% themselves. No one held back at all, which was very fun to see, and it’s going to be even more fun to watch.”

Ava Dash

For Dash, the most rewarding and most stressful part of the show was filming with her father, famed record executive Damon Dash. “There are so many funny moments that usually would just be caught between the two of us,” the 25-year-old says. “[But] you never know what he’s going to say. There were so many things he would slightly bring up, and I would give him a look like ‘We are not discussing that in public.’ He’s such a loose cannon.”

Compared to her father, Dash is more considerate, guarded, and compassionate, which is why she relates to Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl. “She was the mom and always level-headed,” she says. “She definitely had her drama, but she was such a queen, and that’s what I aspire to be.”

Charlie Zakkour

According to most of the Next Gen NYC cast, Zakkour is the show’s de facto villain. “I think I’ve called him a d*ck like five times, even just in the trailer,” Biermann says.

His closest friend, Dash, can’t even defend him, and when asked what Zakkour did to deserve such notoriety, she teases: “Oh, a lot.” If there is a Real Housewives-style reunion, he will be in the hot seat.

Georgia McCann

Like a true Gen Z-er, McCaan joined Next Gen NYC simply for the vibes. “Honestly, it was just a ‘why not’ moment,” the event planner says. “I was 24 at the time, and I never took photos of myself until recently. I was like, ‘Honestly, this will just be a cool time capsule for my life in my 20s, and I feel like I’m going to regret not doing it when I’m older.’”

Naturally, it took her some time to get used to the cameras. “The first couple filming sessions were definitely very awkward,” she says. “But it’s crazy, [the cameras] really do end up blending into the background. It was simultaneously more fun and more stressful than I expected.”

Shai Fruchter

After growing up around the world — including nearby New Jersey — Frutcher has finally planted roots in New York and is on an “endless pursuit of authenticity,” according to his Bravo bio. While much of the cast only met him through mutual friends, this new group might just fit his journey.

As Dash says, “Since we all are naturally friends, everything we filmed was really fun and very authentic.”