Riley Burruss is shining bright as one of the stars of Next Gen NYC, the Bravo reality series that features kids from The Real Housewives franchise.
Burruss is the daughter of Grammy-winner Kandi Burruss, who also starred on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Bravo viewers have seen Riley grow up in front of the cameras, and Next Gen NYC gives her a platform to showcase her personality.
“The show first started with me and Brooks [Marks],” Riley told Deadline in an interview about her co-star, the son of of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Meredith Marks. “Brooks had initially came up to me and it just flourished from there. I just thought the time was right [to be on reality TV] because I had just graduated school and that’s when everything was confirmed. I was like, ‘You know what? This is cool. A new adventure. Why not?’”
With her famous mother being a pro at being on reality TV for many years, Riley had someone to look up to for advice about navigating this new world.
“She wanted me to just be honest all the time, not to lie, not to be extra for cameras, just be me,” Riley said of the advice Kandi gave her. “She didn’t want to give me too much advice because she wanted me to carve my own lane and figure some things out for myself.”
One of her co-stars in Next Gen NYC is her childhood friend Arianna Berman, daughter of RHOA’s Kim Zolciak. The two drifted apart after their famous mothers feuded, but the new reality series brought the two young stars together again.
“Before I met up with Arianna, I wasn’t really sure how we would be because, we were 10 years away from each other,” she said of reuniting with Arianna on-camera. “I didn’t know if our personalities would really mesh, but they ended up meshing very well and we’re great friends now.”
RELATED: BravoCon 2025 Cast Photos: All The Stars Confirmed For Fan Event
She continued, “We really don’t talk about what our parents went though because both of our parents agreed that it was years ago and neither of them care. They both want us to be friends, so we kind of just left it in the past and wanted to carve our own new friendship.”
Riley’s mom has been watching Next Gen NYC and was nervous about the perception viewers would have of her, and adds, “I think she’s really proud about how I’m coming off and she realizes I’m more mature than she thought.”
Real Housewives of Atlanta fans also know Riley’s grandmother, Mama Joyce, who has had many memorable scenes on the Bravo series. However, Riley is skeptical that her grandmother “knows how to” watch the series yet, “but I’ll definitely show her how to watch on Peacock for sure.”
Riley has not been afraid to voice her opinion and stand up for herself on Next Gen NYC, something that can’t be said about her co-star, Brooks Marks. Brooks has opted to take on the approach of her famous mother and disengage from any on-camera conflict and look at the drama from afar.
“I think that a lot of us have had conversations with him on how to just voice how you feel. I know I’ve had a few,” she says. “He’s learning. He’s going to figure it out. He just needs some time. It’s OK to be non-confrontational. Not everyone needs to be confrontational. He has a few good people in his corner.”
Riley says she’s open to returning for another season of Next Gen NYC, saying, “I would not want to be just a one-season thing, but I don’t know yet. Hopefully, they’re making some things work. All I can do is manifest and hope for the best.”
