\n\tThe show was met with skepticism thanks to its casting of the children of Real Housewives and a few famous faces. However, season one was well received, thanks to those familiar personalities and the introduction of a few more standouts, including D\u2019Spain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tD\u2019Spain\u2019s candidness as a creator has paired well with the unscripted forum, a venture she tells The Hollywood Reporter she always knew she\u2019d dabble in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI felt like I was going to be on reality TV<\/a> one day, but I never realized how big of a deal it was and how many doors it would open,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s been the biggest blessing ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHer Next Gen NYC casting is monumental for Bravo, as she is the first full-time trans cast member on the network. Trans women have appeared in recurring roles on other shows, with D\u2019Spain herself noting she did not know she was the first trans person to maintain a permanent spot on a Bravo cast.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tD\u2019Spain says bringing that representation to unscripted television has been \u201ca positive weight that I carry around.\u201d She knows her identity does not define her, but she recognizes that \u201ceven just being on the show and being myself, living my life as I do, it\u2019s making waves.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBelow, D\u2019Spain reflects on the premiere of season two of Next Gen NYC, dishes on how dynamics have shifted post-season one, how reality TV has impacted her social media career and her landmark casting for Bravo.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tYou have a presence online in beauty and fashion, but reality TV forces people to be very open about their personal lives. What are some of the biggest differences between the two forums?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s been really crazy because I\u2019ve been doing content creation for so long, and I edit all my own content, so if I don\u2019t like something, I just know in the future I can tweak that or I know how things are going to come across. With the show, you have to literally live your life and be yourself, and it took me a minute to get comfortable with that. It was very nerve-wracking at first, and I think that\u2019s why, in season one, subconsciously, I was very closed off and reserved because I was trying to control my narrative. This year, I literally was like, whatever, F it, I\u2019m just gonna be myself, live my life with my friends, and hope to be perceived in a positive way.<\/p>\n \n\tWere you at all nervous about joining a show <\/strong>described<\/strong><\/a> as \u201cthe show that\u2019s going to feature children of Real Housewives\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tA little bit, just because I feel like a lot of the Bravo universe loves these kids so much, and they should. I didn\u2019t even really realize how young Ariana [Biermann] and Riley [Burruss, daughters of two former Real Housewives of Atlanta stars] were when they were on camera. The whole world has watched them grow up, even with Brooks [Marks] and Gia [Giudice] too. But for me, I wanted to use that to my advantage and make it more positive, where it was like, okay, my friends know exactly how this game goes, they know the highs and lows and what to look out for, and how to be yourself on camera. So I took that in a very positive way. And then, of course, we have all of their parents to lean on if we ever need advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Bravo audience can be hard on new shows, but season one put the skepticism to rest. What was it like to get that reaction, and then learn that you were going to be renewed and come back for season two?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt was amazing. We were all shocked in a really positive way, because, yes, we felt like we did our best work for season one, but we all were surprised at how much people really loved [Next Gen], and how much people really wanted more, especially the non-Bravo kids. Because it\u2019s not just me, I feel like people are infatuated by Charlie [Zakkour], Georgia [McCan], Shai [Fruchter], everyone as a cast all together. There\u2019s not one or two people that everyone\u2019s like, \u201cWe want more of this person, we want less of that person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tEmira D\u2019Spain on \u2018Next Gen NYC\u2019 season two.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharles Sykes\/Bravo<\/p>\n \n\tYou say that, but I feel like people did want more from you after season one. You had to miss a few filming events, but it appears, based on the premiere, you are going to be the glue that holds this group together. Is that a fair assessment?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s a fair assessment. I feel like I tend to fall into that role in my friend groups and in my family. That\u2019s who I am as a person. It\u2019s a Libra thing. In this season specifically, the friend group needs a little bit of mediation and someone to make sure things are running smoothly, and that\u2019s my job as mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIs there anything else you\u2019re excited for viewers to see as season two continues?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI think they\u2019re going to be really excited to see how a lot of these dynamics have shifted since season one, which I think is for good and bad. It\u2019s really amazing to watch these friendships develop in real time, because we all are actually friends, and we spend so much time together on and off camera. I think it\u2019s really cool, because as an audience member watching, if I didn\u2019t know any of us, I would be so infatuated by that.<\/p>\n \n\tHow has the actual act of filming the show, having it come out and seeing the reaction from fans changed your friendships in this group?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s changed the friendships. I think it just made us all a little bit more invested in the show. We all came back this year really excited, and I think season one, we were all not skeptical, but we were all very much just trying to see what\u2019s what works. But now it\u2019s like, okay, we have ideas, we have suggestions. You\u2019ll see things play out this season where it\u2019s very clearly someone\u2019s idea. Everyone basically had their hand in the pie. Everyone wanted to make it more entertaining for viewers.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen you first joined the cast, did you know that you would be the first full-time trans cast member on any Bravo show?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI actually did not know that. That was crazy to me, and I don\u2019t even think any of us knew that, like, no one on my team. I remember we saw, we got like all these notifications and stuff, and we\u2019re like, \u201cOh yeah, that is the case. Yeah, that\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI <\/strong>spoke with the creator of <\/strong>Next Gen<\/strong><\/a>, Michaline Babich, last year about your casting. I asked her thoughts on having such a monumental casting on Bravo with <\/strong>Next Gen<\/strong>, and she told me you are a monumental person yourself. What has it been like for you to bring that level of representation to Bravo, which is the largest forum for unscripted TV in the industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYeah, that is crazy. Honestly, it\u2019s something that is so subconscious, but whenever I do remember, it kind of feels like a positive weight that I carry around. Because yes, it\u2019s this responsibility to live my life authentically, and it just makes me remember how lucky I am and how blessed I am, and that I\u2019m representing my entire community. But at the same time, even just being on the show and being myself, living my life as I do, it\u2019s making waves. Like, I get DMs from parents being like, \u201cI\u2019m watching this at home with my kid who\u2019s thinking about transitioning.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m watching this at home with my son, who just came out to me as trans.\u201d It\u2019s those types of messages; that is the point of why I do what I do. I want to just live my life and be myself, but at the same time, me doing that is already opening doors and breaking barriers for other people, which is crazy to think about and kind of scary, but it\u2019s cool. <\/p>\n \n\tHow has going on to reality TV impacted your career on social media?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOh, it\u2019s definitely impacted it, I think, in a very positive way. I feel like I\u2019m taken a lot more seriously by brands, press, everything. People are now taking me from the box of just a beauty creator. Now it\u2019s like, wow, she\u2019s an actual social media personality, which to me is crazy, because I always still fall back to my beauty creator ways. I just genuinely love beauty, I love talking about beauty. But to me, it\u2019s like they\u2019re almost two different worlds, and I love when they combine, but it\u2019s still cool that they\u2019re different.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tBrooks Marks, Gia Giudice, Riley Burruss, Ava Dash, Kendall White, Liam Obergfoll, Ariana Biermann, Emira D\u2019Spain and Georgia McCann on \u2018Next Gen NYC\u2019 season two.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tScott Gries\/Bravo<\/p>\n \n\tHow would you describe your personality online versus your personality on the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMy personality online is very all knowing. She\u2019s this ominous beauty presence. I\u2019ve got all these tips and tricks, and want to help people improve their beauty, and make everyone feel like they have the tools. But then on the show, I think I\u2019m more, in the same but different way, a mediator role with my friends. I love to have fun, but I\u2019m very real, and I\u2019ll very much call people out for their actions. I actually want all my friends to be the best version of themselves. I have this big sister vibe that comes off in social media and on the show.<\/p>\n \n\tDo you see yourself staying on reality TV, or is there any other sector of entertainment you\u2019d like to dabble in?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI definitely feel like I can see myself being on reality TV for a while. It\u2019s so much fun to just be myself. I used to do acting, I think I could see myself getting back into that in the future. I\u2019m working on something really special in the beauty space too, that\u2019s like a merge of beauty and technology that\u2019s going to come out towards the end of this year. Stay tuned for that, that\u2019s going to be incredible.<\/p>\n \n\tIs there anything else you can tease about that project?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tLet\u2019s just say it\u2019s going to revolutionize the way that people shop and use new beauty products going into 2027.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat is your favorite social platform?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYou know, it was TikTok, but now I actually feel like it\u2019s Instagram. I feel like Instagram is doing a really good job of listening to what creators<\/a> and audiences want. They\u2019re actually really listening. We still love TikTok, but it\u2019s cool to watch Instagram shift and grow.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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