Photo: Emily Aragones/Disney

Love Thy Nader, the glossy new Hulu/Freeform reality show following the lives of model Brooks Nader and her model sisters in New York, almost feels like watching Cocomelon with the bold glamour TikTok filter on. The series leans heavily into everything it thinks a reality show should be — good-looking siblings breaking free from their traditional upbringing, going through public breakups, launching clothing lines, and fighting in full glam on girls trips.

It’s just the latest entry to try to capitalize on the formula perfected by Keeping Up With the Kardashians. In recent years, shows like The Culpo Sisters, The Family Stallone, and The Bradshaw Bunch have all attempted to follow in those high-heeled footsteps by building a series around famous(ish) sisters. But those failed copycats demonstrate that while the Kardashians might have made it look easy, it takes a lot to successfully be an “It” family. Much as Keeping Up did, Love Thy Nader features the public trials and internal tribulations of glammed-up sisters (one of whom — Brooks, in this case — is more famous than the others) trying to make a name for themselves in the entertainment industry, all while attacking each other with cutting remarks for the cameras. But the commonality that’s perhaps most key, and which could cement the show’s place as the Kardashians’ heir apparent, is that the premiere episode is pegged to an already known tabloid story.

The series hits the ground running as Brooks’s whirlwind romance with her Dancing With the Stars partner Gleb Savchenko implodes after she breaks into his phone and discovers that he apparently cheated on her by having a threesome at Joshua Tree. This isn’t just good drama for reality television; it’s a story line that much of the audience likely has a point of reference for outside the show — giving the series a hook much like Kim’s sex tape was for Keeping Up. It’s a public scandal that the show is offering up an inside look at, and even if this split hasn’t been on your radar, the concept of a DWTS showmance should at least be familiar enough to give you some sort of foothold in this world. Or, even more likely, they’ve entered your orbit via their show’s extensive press tour, which involved stops on Jimmy Kimmel (who’s an executive producer on the series), podcasts like Not Skinny But Not Fat, and even Nightline.

Soon after I started watching following its August 26 premiere, I realized that it might actually be one of the most cerebral programs on television. The more of these nearly identical sisters who appeared, the more I felt each of my individual brain cells straining to tell who was who and figure out why I was watching them. In an attempt to ease that burden for new viewers, here’s everything you should know if you’re trying to keep up with the Naders.

Brooks’s modeling career began after she won the 2019 Swim Search open casting call to be featured in the Sports Illustrated “Swimsuit” issue, despite her conservative upbringing in Louisiana. She soon became a regular presence in the magazine before appearing on the cover in 2023. The next year, she competed on Dancing With the Stars with partner Gleb Savchenko, where they finished in ninth place but began dating (as Dancing With the Stars partners are wont to do). That relationship came on the heels of her divorce from her ex Billy Haire, whom she had been with since she was 19. (Haire is now dating another reality-TV star, Southern Charm’s Naomie Olindo.)

While the pair’s intense relationship was on display at the beginning of the first episode (Gleb meets Brooks’s parents and they talk about the possibility of moving in with each other), he quickly became the show’s antagonist thanks to his easy-to-crack phone password and jaunt at Joshua Tree. His alleged infidelity became the inciting incident of the series, and Brooks’s sisters rally around her amid the breakup. Even in absentia, he’s a looming presence as she deals with the public fallout of the split — with many accusing her of staging it as a PR stunt — and battles with him over text. These episodes also end with a disclaimer that he denies all accusations of infidelity. Though Savchenko was alluding to being fired from Dancing With the Stars over the summer on TikTok, he is in fact returning to the series with partner Hilaria Baldwin.

The Naders’ parents visit their daughters in Soho at the start of the series to support the launch of Brooks’s line with Hudson Jeans, but more important, they serve as a conservative foil for their daughter’s antics. They’re particularly wary of Gleb even before the Joshua Tree-some and provide support when the shit hits the fan.

Mary Holland is at a fork in the road at the beginning of the season, deciding whether to continue climbing the corporate ladder or pivot to modeling and “doing brand deals.” Ultimately we see her quit her Wall Street job as an investment manager at Deutsche Bank to pursue the latter in what she refers to as a “micro-retirement.” This horrifies her father, but why bother going into an office when you’re getting paid to have a camera crew come to you?

While Grace Ann studied public health, she’s also trying to get her modeling career rolling — but ideally without the input of her sisters, whom she finds to be too critical of her every move in the industry. She’s introduced as the wildcard of the show, and we’re told that her sisters held an intervention for her years ago when her drinking got out of control. That being said, she’s not sober — but assures us that her drinking habits are much healthier than they once were.

Sarah Jane is the youngest Nader, a model, and “not all the way straight.” While Brooks mentions her divorce and bikini modeling as being in conflict with their family’s conservative values, Sarah Jane’s queerness probably has a leg up on that. The topic of her sexuality is often danced around by her extended family, and she says her family typically doesn’t ask about her dating life as they do with her sisters.

As if things couldn’t get more cursed, this very well might be the reality show debut of ChatGPT, which the sisters confer with far too often as though it’s a real person. After Brooks discovers Gleb’s texts, one of her sisters (impossible to know which one; it was early days, when they all still blended together) asks ChatGPT for advice on how to lift Brooks’s spirits. Even crazier, they later use the AI bot to fully write Brooks’s breakup text to Gleb.  

No relation.