There comes a time in every reality TV dynasty when the crown must be passed — or at least borrowed for a summer. That moment is now. Bravo’s Next Gen NYC, premiering June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, is a highly watchable, occasionally chaotic coming-of-age series that tosses ten young New Yorkers — most of them raised in, or adjacent to, the Bravo limelight — into the city that never lets you soft-launch anything. This is a hard launch, baby. And it’s happening with a ring light on.
The cast reads like a Gen Z fever dream of Real Housewives lineage, internet clout, and just enough actual ambition to keep things interesting. There’s Ariana Biermann, stepping out of Atlanta — and her mother Kim Zolciak-Biermann’s shadow — with nothing but a high school sweetheart (Hudson McLeroy), a streetwear dream, and a TikTok following.
Riley Burruss, daughter of Grammy-winning legend Kandi Burruss, is the no-BS bestie who may or may not be flirting with law school if she doesn’t find herself first.
Ava Dash, the effortlessly magnetic child of Damon Dash and Rachel Roy, floats in and out of modeling gigs and the group’s emotional dynamics like the Tribeca queen she is.
But this isn’t just a nepo story. Emira D’Spain — beauty director turned content juggernaut — built her career without needing a famous last name, and she’s not here for the mess… until it starts creeping into her schedule. Georgia McCann, downtown’s unofficial Gen Z mayor, is juggling events, aesthetics, and what looks like the beginning of a Very Complicated Summer Romance. And Brooks Marks? He’s still rocking his signature tracksuit while figuring out whether he’s the voice of reason or just a really well-dressed referee for everyone else’s drama.
Then there’s Shai Fruchter, the soft-spoken wildcard with a global backstory; Hudson, the Southern investor trying to make NYC his new stomping ground for love and business; and Charlie Zakkour, the club kid turned crypto bro who’s known since 14 how to work a velvet rope and a group chat. The drama? It’s already simmering.
Yes, their parents pop in — Teresa Giudice, Kandi Burruss, Meredith and Seth Marks, and even Kim Zolciak-Biermann show face — but this story belongs to the kids. Or at least, that’s what they’re trying to prove. Between career hustles, brunch meltdowns, romantic entanglements, and late-night unfiltered honesty (thank you, Charlie), Next Gen NYC offers a chaotic but endearing glimpse at what it means to grow up with legacy, but without a map.
Will they survive the group chat wars, the downtown parties, and the reality of adulting in a city that doesn’t care who your parents are? TBD. But one thing’s for sure: if trouble runs on espresso martinis and questionable decisions, this crew has already paid the tab.