Brooks Marks Is Ready to “Pull Back the Curtain” on ‘Next Gen NYC’

Brooks Marks is stepping out from behind Meredith Marks’ snowflake. 

The model and fashion designer was first introduced into the reality TV stratosphere in November 2020 when his mother, Meredith Marks, joined the cast of Bravo‘s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Yes, Brooks is the son of a housewife, but he was particularly embedded in the show’s season two storyline, as conflict between his mother and the infamous Jen Shah sparked when the latter locked-up housewife began allegedly liking homophobic posts about him online. 

Unburdened by a rocky reality start, Brooks is ready to make his solo debut with Next Gen NYC, the network’s latest series that some have described as “Bravo’s nepo baby reality show.” The cast is packed with fellow children of housewives, including Gia Giudice (daughter of New Jersey housewife Teresa Giudice), Ariana Biermann (daughter of Atlanta’s Kim Zolciak-Biermann) and Riley Burruss (daughter of Atlanta’s Kandi Burruss). 

“The experience is completely different,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter of filming Next Gen versus RHOSLC. “I feel like it’s almost incomparable.”

Brooks, designer of Brooks Marks, his self-titled fashion brand, is particularly ready to “pull back the curtain and reveal more of my life to everyone,” which includes a deeper dive into his personal — and professional — life living in the Big Apple. And despite what some may think, Brooks asserts that the Next Gen cast is “real friends.”

“This isn’t just random people put on a camera for TV — this is a friend group [and] the cameras are like a fly on the wall into our life,” Brooks says, though the jury will still be out on just how tight knit the Next Gen clique is until the show’s Tuesday arrival. 

Ahead of the premiere, Brooks chatted with THR about the advice his mom, Meredith, has given him ahead of Next Gen, what a typical day in his life could look like as a fashion desinger in N.Y.C. and which of his fellow cast members he’s closest with. 

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You’ve been on reality TV before via your mom [Meredith Marks] on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, but how was it different transitioning from briefly appearing on a reality show to now becoming a main cast member of a brand new Bravo show? 

The experience is completely different, especially in terms of the environment that I’m in [and] where I was in my life when I began doing that with my mom. I’m really excited for viewers to get to see what my life is like in New York and get to know me personally, because I feel like people don’t fully get to know me from seeing the excerpts they’ve seen [on RHOSLC], but I’m excited to pull back the curtain and reveal more of my life to everyone. 

It looks like your mom, your dad and sister Chloe are going to be making a few appearances on the show. How much are we going to peek into your family life?

It would be impossible to not see that with my family. My family is extremely close knit. We break bread together, we work together — we basically do everything together, and I think that will be really cool for viewers to see more of the ins and outs of the work we do together at Meredith Marks [my mom’s luxury brand] and at Brooks Marks. I mean, my mom is my mentor with my clothing brand.

Salt Lake has had this huge explosion over the past few years. Going into Next Gen NYC, did you feel any pressure to live up to the legacy that your mom has created on her show? 

My mom is very accomplished in all of her career paths, and I do feel pressure to hopefully achieve one percent of her success. That does exist. 

Did she give you any advice heading into filming? 

Yes, my mom is constantly giving me advice. We talk a million times every day, but pertaining to everything that I do in life, she’s always told me to be completely authentic, and that’s something that I carry out with my work at Brooks Marks, my modeling career and, of course, Next Gen. 

What is the latest with your fashion brand, and what are you most excited about viewers seeing of your entrepreneurial side on the show?

I think it’s a common misconception that launching a clothing brand is this easy thing to do, and I’m really excited for the viewers to see how intricate it is. From selecting fabrics, making sure you’re happy with the composition that it is not only true to the garment that you’re trying to create, but true to sustainability and conscious consumption efforts, as well as the grading that goes into these garments and the scaling and measurements. It’s a really long process, it’s not just throwing your name on something, and that’s not anything I would ever want a part in. I’m really excited for viewers to see all the work that goes into literally creating a hoodie and a sweat pant (Laughs).

Give me a rundown on what a typical day in your life looks like as a young fashion designer in New York City.

It varies depending on what’s going on. So with my brand, there are different processes that we go through with development, launch, marketing, all of those things. My normal day-to-day schedule would ideally be waking up at like 7 a.m., going to the gym, getting home, making myself breakfast, having some meetings, catching up on emails, meeting with manufacturing [and] planning a future launch, if that’s where I am.

But it gets tricky, because things come up all the time, which you’ll see in Next Gen, and my schedule gets completely thrown in the trash when I have to go run to get something made that’s falling behind, or if my mom calls me with work at Meredith Marks that I have to handle, or if I get a modeling casting call. So my ideal schedule doesn’t always work out. That’s the thing about New York — you have to always be adaptable… Well, maybe that’s just a life thing (Laughs).

Is there an upcoming collection, or any upcoming drops that you’re particularly excited about?

Yes, I’m super excited about what’s next for my brand, and you’ll have to tune in to Next Gen NYC to find out. 

Is there anything you can tease? 

It’s completely new and different from what I think anyone would expect.

Before you picked up filming, who were you closest to from the cast? And who are you closest to in the cast now, since season one has wrapped filming? 

I feel like it’s obvious with any friend group, there’s gonna be conflict and hopefully resolution. And what’s really great about this group of friends is that we all lean on and support each other, and we’re real friends. This isn’t just random people put on a camera for TV — this is a friend group [and] the cameras are like a fly on the wall into our life, which I think is really exciting about this show.

I’ve been close with Riley [Burruss] for years. I’ve been close with Emira [D’Spain], Ava [Dash], Gia [Giudice] for years, but some of them are newer friendships as well. And there’s definitely one friendship that is on the rocks throughout the season, and I’m not even quite sure where it stands today.

In the trailer, your friends seem to think that “everyone will say what they’re thinking” in the cast except for you — why do you think they feel this way?

Emira always jokes that she can see the gears turning in my head whenever I get asked something, but I don’t know. I just have anxiety, so sometimes it takes me a minute to respond, and I talk slowly. I’m not afraid to voice my thoughts, I just really don’t like conflict, so I would hate to be the cause of it.

What are we going to see that’s different from what we’ve briefly seen via Salt Lake?

I feel like it’s almost incomparable, because from what everyone has seen on my mom’s show, those are just little snippets of my life when I’m at home with my parents. This is a show that’s covering my day to day life as an adult in New York, so I think viewers will be really surprised by my personality and my life in general, because that’s not something that has been shown before.

Do you have any other big goals you want to accomplish entering this new era as a reality star? You hosted a web series where you interviewed the children of reality stars, is that something you would want to continue? 

I’m open to any opportunity, as long as it feels authentic to me. As far as my clothing brand, my one goal is to make everyone feel comfortable in my clothes and create a community that no one feels excluded from. So as long as I’m doing that, I’m happy, and further down the line, I want to be happy with kids and family and whatnot.

On Salt Lake season one, you did Park City fashion week. Would you want to do New York Fashion Week one day? 

That would definitely be a dream, for sure. 

Summarize season one of Next Gen NYC in three words.

Exciting, surprising and tumultuous. 

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Next Gen NYC releases new episodes Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Bravo. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.