"“It makes sense that we're on reality television, because we're a fucking dramatic bunch,” says Ava Dash, the 26-year-old nepo baby-cum-reality star. “We were made for this. I'm glad we're on TV.” It's a Sunday night in March, and I'm in Noho to meet half the cast of Next Gen NYC, Bravo's New York-based, zoomer-centric reality show, just before the debut of its sophomore season."
"“Marks later revealed to me that he's been getting PRP therapy, a procedure in which platelets are extracted from your blood and turned into face serum. D'Spain takes off her fur coat to reveal a corset, which she says she has to wear every day after undergoing a rib-sculpting surgery, which she's hoping will give her ‘a super-snatched waist.’ Though they are all in their 20s, they look like most reality stars, lips perfectly plumped, foreheads frozen into place, skin as smooth as glass.”"
"“Next Gen follows a mostly contrived friend group of thirsty pretty people who like to get in melodramatic fights for the cameras. The show presents a rarified version of Gen Z life in New York - a world in which 20-somethings spend $10,000 a month on rent and $14,000 on bottle service. It became Bravo's most-watched season premiere, and the network soon ordered up a second season, which premieres in June.”"
"“For dinner, the cast members invited me to BondST, an upscale sushi spot where, D'Spain and Marks tell me, they hung out while students at NYU. ‘I'm going to kill myself!’ D'Spain blurts out after the food arrived and she dribbled some eel sauce onto her bedazzled silver boots. Dash gasps.”"
A reality show centered on young New Yorkers presents a contrived friend group that creates melodramatic conflicts for cameras. The cast appears highly polished, with cosmetic procedures and fashion choices designed to maintain a reality-star look. One cast member describes platelet-rich plasma therapy used to create face serum, while another wears a corset daily after rib-sculpting surgery to achieve a more defined waist. The show frames Gen Z life as expensive and glamorous, with high monthly spending on rent and nightlife bottle service. The cast gathers for an upscale dinner, where spontaneous outbursts and mishaps occur in front of the camera-ready environment.
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