Next Gen NYC stars Hudson McLeroy and Ariana Biermann split up after Season 1 aired, and everyone was stunned. They seemed so happily in love, so what could have gone wrong? There was speculation that Ariana’s mother, RHOA alum Kim Zolciak, may have played a part, but was there any truth behind that? Keep reading for all of the details.
Ariana Helped Her Mother Financially
Bravo fans are well aware that Kim Zolciak was a gambler and loved to shop. Therefore, she amassed a lot of debt during her marriage to Kroy Biermann. The couple faced foreclosure on their Georgia mansion, and the drama trickled down to their six kids. As viewers saw on Next Gen NYC, Ariana Biermann was helping her mother, Kim, financially, which was a problem. Ariana was able to take care of herself, but she would never say “no” if her mother needed her.
She explained that her mother had a hard few years, so she understood her struggles. However, she made it very clear that Hudson McLeroy never sent Kim a dime:
“Everybody said that Hudson was giving my mom money. Which I literally would never ever allow that to happen. Any money that my mom was ever receiving was always from me.”
Ariana did note that if she needed Hudson to help Kim out, he would have, but that never happened. At the same time, their co-star, Gia Giudice, stated that it came out as if Hudson became financially responsible for Kim Zolciak. That has never, ever happened, but she did become responsible for herself, which was a bone of contention between Ariana and Hudson:
“He got frustrated that I was finally making money, and like able to support myself, and at a place where the money was going to my bank account, and he was frustrated for me to have to help my mom out. When he [said last season], ‘Your parents took all of your money, why are you helping your mom out?’ [He meant] like, not, ‘Why are you?’ But, ‘You need to not be doing that … because like, you need to keep your own money. She can support herself.’”
There have been a lot of questions as to why the Next Gen NYC co-stars split up. They had seemed very much in love, despite different backgrounds. There was even a question of whether Gia played a role, which she brought up to Hudson when he was on her Casual Chaos podcast. That was allegedly false, as Hudson clarified he stopped evolving at a certain point. He became so comfortable in the relationship, and it was unhealthy.
Growing Into The Man He Needed To Be
Hudson McLeroy admitted that he ended up going to therapy multiple times a week. That seemingly helped him, and, per many photos, the Next Gen NYC stars have reconciled. Hudson and Ariana Biermann have yet to state that they are back together, but all signs point to that. They were even holding hands at the Season 2 premiere.
Hudson and Ariana holding hands! #nextgennyc pic.twitter.com/q3FHrbYTJ1
— MandiLaurenNowitz (@3icecubes) June 25, 2026
Hopefully, they can work things out and be better than ever. Yet, it does make sense why it appeared Kim Zolciak was the crux of the issues. She was asking a lot of Ariana in Season 1 when her daughter was just trying to grow and evolve on her own.
Do you think Kim has impacted Ariana and Hudson’s relationship? Let us know and watch Next Gen NYC streaming on Peacock.
Amanda has been a professional freelance writer for over a decade, holding both a BA and an MA. Her passions include animals, iced coffee, gnomes, summer, music, and ‘Vanderpump Rules’.