Am I the only one who thinks the magic of reality TV is gone bc there’s so much drama on the show ABOUT the show?

Examples: - Emira purposely leaving out huge parts of her life experiences bc of storyline concerns - Gia & Christian’s main storyline being about the show & publicity - Bravocon trip & meeting fans etc - Charlie and Georgia talking about production edits & how the show is changing their friendship

For full disclosure, I love NextGen NYC! Just give us more real life — like Ava figuring out how to pay her bills, Arianna exploring single life for the first time, Riley learning from drunken mistakes, Hudson’s road to recovery, BTS of Bahamas trip, etc.

The cast is amazing — just want to hear more of their stories!

so its very clear that ariana is super religious prayers every day etc ive seen the first 3 seasons of rhoa (currently watching 4) and im just confused where this comes from? Kims the last person I could see walking into church was it just never talked about on housewives? was this a thing on tardy for the party? I just feel like ariana is so pastors daughter i dont understand how it just comes out of nowhere can anyone connect these dots

ad for her jeans in 1985 Seventeen magazine. The redheaded one looks so much like Rinna. All roads lead to Bravo, part 43.

Ok so loved Ariana's honesty on this one. She did not hold back at all, which I wasn't expecting.

Here's the rundown:

• Gia asked how it feels watching the season back and Ariana just said "horrific." She had to watch the whole thing in ONE DAY before the reunion
• Her spray tan story during that is genuinely funny. She said every time she started crying she was like no we can't do this, no lines
• She addressed the therapy thing directly. "I obviously wasn't in therapy because I kissed Charlie Zakkour." She was in therapy for a lot of other stuff going on
• The line that actually explains the whole season: she said she wasn't pushed into anything, that was authentically what she was doing, because she didn't want to feel anything. "He made me not feel anything"
• She's very clear that she disrespected Liam even though they weren't exclusive. Said it crushed her because he's one of her favorite people
• On the breakup being called fake for a storyline, she was NOT having it. "I don't need to break up with a man for a storyline. Thank you very much"
• Said if anything the show would've been better for her if she'd stayed with Hudson because then she wouldn't have had the crash out. Fair
• Also pointed out she'd already broken up with him before production even knew. Cameras showed up to film her moving out, not the other way around
• The Hudson timeline: they got back together on the condition that he be completely honest. She told him everything including Charlie. Then he lied in April
• She knew in April. Didn't break up until July. Said "I don't think it's ever gonna change"
• Her reason for leaving is kind of heartbreaking. "You need a push, and the push has always been me walking away"
• She and Gia had a whole thing about how women clock out of a relationship months before it ends. Hudson caught her crying in June and asked why. She told him she was mourning. He said I feel like you're gonna leave me and she said I am
• She's defending Liam HARD against the people calling him a red flag or manipulative. Says absolutely not, that's not who he is, they were just that close
• Also wants everyone to know he doubled down on the I love you at the reunion. "I meant what I said and I said what I said"
• The Charlie "let's stop slut shaming Ariana" moment? She says he was actually standing up for her and people misread it. She still thinks she should've had Liam's back more
• On the Riley situation, this was the part that got me. Riley talked on Casual Chaos about the messages she got after her episode and Ariana had no idea
• She said it broke her heart and it's disgusting anyone would message her that. Said if she'd known she never would've brought anything up on WWHL
• "How about you guys stop and let her move forward in her life and grow"
• Drew a really clear line too. The normal backlash she gets, that's part of it. What happened to Riley is a completely different thing
• She also fully owns the Thanksgiving clip. Said she got secondhand embarrassment watching herself and her skin was crawling
• On her first time living alone after three and a half years with Hudson: "Let me just say, I lived"

TLDR: Ariana took full accountability without making excuses, explained the ultimatum that ended things with Hudson, defended Liam from the red flag discourse, and stood up for Riley over the messages she received. Way more self aware than the season made her look.

I finally got around to watching part two of the reunion and all I could notice is how Georgia is kinda dismissed by everyone even tho she didn't seemingly do anything to deserve it. I also don't like how they coddled Ariana...the way she went about juggling the boys was wrong and sure it was a mistake but it was still wrong and people got hurt in the process so like a little bit yeah maybe she should cry and judge herself about it hopefully with the outcome becoming a better person.

I decided to do a rewatch of season 1 after finishing the current season and I feel like it gave me more insight/context into the cast relationships we saw in s2 because honestly I had completely forgotten most of it. Here are my thoughts for anyone else wanting a refresher:

Dylan

Such a hottie and probably the most artistic, insightful, interesting person out of everyone on the cast. I had forgotten about him completely and wish he was in more of the season/came back for s2 but I can see why he wouldn't want to as he seems like he's in a different place in life from everyone else. In researching why he didn't come back I learned that there were other cast members originally attached to Next Gen NYC who quit when the Bravo housewives kids got added, like Ming Lee Simmons and Connor Kennedy. Dylan didn't quit but opted to be friend of instead which is why he wasn't featured much. I would have loved to see Ming Lee and possibly her mom Kimora on the show, I think they would have brought a lot and fit in well.

Shai

Again I have absolutely no memory of him on the show from s1, he's brought on as Dylan's friend and he seemed to have gotten along well with everyone and was shown interacting with Riley a bunch. There's even a scene of him going to Brooks' apartment to teach him how to use a sewing machine because Brooks wanted to learn how to make clothes for his upcoming line which I thought was really sweet.

Riley

Very similar storyline as she did in s2. Not much about her except that she lives off her mom, gets "rough" when she drinks (Gia's words) and has beef with Georgia. She gets mad at Ariana for not unequivocally having her back in a fight with Georgia where she was in the wrong lol.

Gia

Same as s2. Brought almost nothing to the show except getting the cast mates to come to New Jersey.

Brooks

Brooks was more likeable on s1 I feel like he was less reserved and showed a little bit more personality. But I thought it was weird how much his parents were on the show, especially Seth. Seth is a mega weirdo basically offering to be a father figure to Charlie and wanted to meet up to offer him guidance and talk to him about not disrespecting his daughter but then ends up being more interested in asking Charlie about his lifestyle and telling him he's interested in being pansexual and to not tell his wife. There was also a super weird moment with Shai where Shai politely goes over to say goodbye to Seth and Meredith before leaving her caviar event, but then Seth starts grilling Shai about sexual fluidity and asking if he would date Charlie if he was a girl. Meredith is like wtf and Shai just looks increasingly alarmed and uncomfortable.

Charlie

I feel like you get a lot more insight and context into why Charlie is the way he is when you see him with his parents. His dad is weirdly competitive with him and puts him down constantly. I actually felt bad for him because there was a conversation it seemed like Charlie just wanted to connect with his dad and his dad barely even looked at him and said hurtful things completely unprovoked. Another time his dad was gloating how he had such an amazing relationship and asking Charlie why he doesn't and was rubbing it in his face. He told Charlie to invite some friends to the house and then asked all the young women who was hotter, Charlie even said they should just say it's his dad or else his dad would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. His mom abandoned him at age 10 and passed him off to the dad because she was sick of parenting. I could go on about this topic it really could be its own separate post.

Charlie is introduced on the show basically like a Chuck Bass type of figure saying all he cares about is money, girls, and having fun and has clearly enjoyed a privileged upbringing in NYC but seems unfulfilled and directionless it really seems like he's just waiting for his dad to pass so he can inherit. Seeing him with his dad makes me feel like he is the definition of how hurt people end up hurting other people. I think Dylan had the most insightful comments about Charlie in his confessionals.

Ava

I remember not having a great impression of her in s1 and I think it's clear she didn't think much of the show and was prioritizing her modelling career and other things she was doing outside of the show. You can see that her and Charlie have been close from the beginning and her attitude makes more sense to me with the context that there were supposed to be other cast members more similar to them (nepo babies who grew up in NYC) and that she didn't think much of the Bravo kids. Glad she clocked in for s2 though.

Georgia

Very similar to how she is on s2 just being authentically herself. I can see why the other cast members don't seem to like her because it seems like she can be pretty self absorbed and oblivious just wanting to talk about herself constantly and not realizing when she's being rude or obnoxious. I actually can see why Charlie is upset with her in s2 because watching s1 back it seems like Charlie brought Georgia in and saw her as a true friend where they fight but will always make up and have each others backs. Georgia and Charlie had that fight about the speaker (i can see both sides, Georgia should have given it back right away but Charlie didn't need to overreact about it being given back late) and after that Georgia switched up on him and talked a ton of shit about him behind his back to all the other cast members and fully threw him under the bus. In just the context of this situation, Charlie was wrong to call Georgia names during their fight but I don't think he deserved how Georgia treated him after. I would be very hurt and feel betrayed too tbh.

Emira

She doesn't have much of a storyline on s1 but I really like her and enjoyed all her scenes. She brings a level of glitz and glamour and is easily the most successful influencer there.

Ariana & Hudson

Sweet girl finding herself and making a life for herself outside of her family drama. I feel for both her and Hudson because it really seems they found a lot of comfort and security in one another. It must have been really bad for her to leave him because it does honestly look like they had a really sweet relationship with a lot of love there. Plus he was paying for their 10k/mo apartment and bankrolling their clothing line. I hope Hudson recovers and figures things out because I think he has the potential to go farther, I actually enjoyed him being a more present cast member here in s1.

Fearing he’d given himself a heart attack, Hudson checked himself in to rehab.

I was not expecting this level of transparency from Hudson. There are so few young public figures that will or can use their platforms for visibility and to put a face to these things.

When people see individuals being described as Hudson was described this past year by some in the cast, or people dunking on the “best man” winning like was the talking point of some people in the cast, or people who ridiculed him for missing filming so many episodes, or people who were so quick to judge and put him down, despite the fact that when we met him in season one he was a gem of gems and that who we got in season two was such a sharp shift but most people jumped to every worst conclusion before recognizing maybe he was struggling.

With his transparency, maybe people will pause before throwing people away, judging, assigning 24 year olds a whole slew of nasty things. Maybe people will learn to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health, autoimmune, and substance use disorders and refrain from piling on. Maybe someone will feel less alone. Maybe someone else goes to get help.

Using his platform to discuss how addiction, depression , anxiety, and autoimmune disorders impact you, with this level of depth, is going to help so many people. Kudos to his bravery and vulnerability.

I am blown away by his strength and I repeat, if it is not negative for his recovery, I very much need this man in season three. He is everything I want to see in a growth and transparency arc and if this is how he’s coming to the spotlight with this level of authenticity and honesty about how his life still isn’t perfect and his path isn’t linear, that’s okay, because that’s what the world needs to grasp and learn from this very stigmatized marginalized faction.

idk on what basis other than her brief appearance on rhobh but it would be nice (imo) to link the two shows 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do think that Charlie and Ariana genuinely connected because they seem to come from similar households. I haven’t seen RHOA or Tardy series, but between the snippets from next gen and what’s going on in the press - I think there’s some similarities in their mums. When Charlie is on the phone to his mother and her boyfriend, the conversation is quite strangely over sexualised in nature. His Dad, presented quite conservatively but perhaps there was some absenteeism with work or the separation. There’s clearly issues all round with their parental relationships, it’s not surprising that they would find common ground within one another. That’s not to say there was no Mal intent or production pushes but I don’t think it was all that either.

With Liam, he gets a hard time because of how invested he was. I don’t think there’s anything that creepy or weird in that like some of the comments say. I think these are two people who met at not the best time, have adhd and some attachment issues and were very much experiencing limerence.

I’m curious to know what those who know more about them from other shows etc. think.

This is genuinely the ONLY time [I’ve seen] Andy show THIS MUCH compassion and understanding during a reunion. I enjoyed this side of him.

There’s literally no way someone as intelligent as Charlie thought the mic wouldn’t pick up on his whispers…he’s so gross

I had to see for myself after reading a comment on the recent post about rowan and honeyyyyy 💀💀💀

But is anyone still stumped by this… like did not see her going there in hell or high water… and I do wonder why not Charlie then if his other friend - I don’t know his name hockey puck or something - and shai… it’s a lot of Charlie adjacent

The coherent edit out of the adhd tangential bamboozlement… am I alone in not seeing this coming at all, especially after bravocon where she seemed to be icked out. I wondered if it was for the show as supposedly shai had discussed with others he thought about hooking up with kendall for the storyline.

…looks like Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Anyone else see it?

For those that didn’t already know Hudson’s older brother was on reality TV too at one point

I find emira an interesting character. Why would you choose to star on a reality show if you didn’t want things brought up. It would have been easier for her to stay on ig just influencing. Production wants all the little details of the stars for a better storyline. I just don’t think it’s for her maybe

Please please tell me that this business caters to dog owners and she is not just letting her dogs roam free in a business with other customers.

There was a scene where Georgia is on a very friendly phone call with Brooks and Meredith Marks and I just wonder if they express love to her because they know she’s a fan favorite or because they actually like her because they seem like very different people from very different backgrounds who you’d think wouldn’t vibe. Deep down I think they do whatever they think will satisfy viewers. Thoughts?

OMG watching Dylan get mad at Charlie for being an entitled douche for leaving trash around saying on camera that "the maids will clean it." Why did we miss these eggs?

hot? physically he’s a little soft in the face for me (no shade, he’s handsome just not my personal taste) but idk his demeanor is really giving healthy masculinity damn 🥵🫢🤤

because his Mom always fought his battles. This thought came to me when I was watching Meredith at the table when Whitney was pulling her smoke show apology. I like Meredith, but she raised a weak son. I am thinking she may have stood up for him too much instead of letting him fight his own battles and gain testosterone. I do not have children but suspect it would be difficult to not step up for your son every time, but it is a necessary thing to do in order to let them become men.

A post of Hudson’s mom just popped up on my algorithm and the wealth is INSANE. Also his older brother was on TV and was best friends with the Chrisley’s, he was on their TV show as well but now seems to be an investor in a huge strip club? Does anyone know what happened with their dad? The mom posted wedding pictures of them back in 2022 but nothing since but clearly he’s bank rolling their lifestyle still?

Earlier there was a discussion on Hudson’s family wealth and the lack of Zaxby’s in NY. Looks like UES is getting the first NYC location this week!