Emira D'Spain. Photography by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images Emira D’Spain is getting comfortable living life in front of cameras.
She, like much of Hollywood as of late, built a following online, specializing in beauty and fashion content. Known for her candid nature as a creator, the 29-year-old is now lending that quality to Bravo’s Next Gen NYC, which kicked off its sophomore season on Wednesday.
The 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’Spain.
Related Stories
TV 'The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip' Heads on an Iconic 'Housewives' Tour for Year 20 in Trailer
TV Fox Creator Studios Beefs Up Roster With Josh Richards, Emelia Hartford and More
D’Spain’s candidness as a creator has paired well with the unscripted forum, a venture she tells The Hollywood Reporter she always knew she’d dabble in.
“I felt like I was going to be on reality TV one day, but I never realized how big of a deal it was and how many doors it would open,” she says. “It’s been the biggest blessing ever.”
Her 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’Spain herself noting she did not know she was the first trans person to maintain a permanent spot on a Bravo cast.
D’Spain says bringing that representation to unscripted television has been “a positive weight that I carry around.” She knows her identity does not define her, but she recognizes that “even just being on the show and being myself, living my life as I do, it’s making waves.”
Below, D’Spain 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.
***
You 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?
It’s been really crazy because I’ve been doing content creation for so long, and I edit all my own content, so if I don’t 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’s 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’m just gonna be myself, live my life with my friends, and hope to be perceived in a positive way.
Were you at all nervous about joining a show described as “the show that’s going to feature children of Real Housewives”?
A little bit, just because I feel like a lot of the Bravo universe loves these kids so much, and they should. I didn’t 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.
The 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?
It 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’s not just me, I feel like people are infatuated by Charlie [Zakkour], Georgia [McCan], Shai [Fruchter], everyone as a cast all together. There’s not one or two people that everyone’s like, “We want more of this person, we want less of that person.”
You 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?
That’s a fair assessment. I feel like I tend to fall into that role in my friend groups and in my family. That’s who I am as a person. It’s 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’s my job as mother.
Is there anything else you’re excited for viewers to see as season two continues?
I think they’re 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’s 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’s really cool, because as an audience member watching, if I didn’t know any of us, I would be so infatuated by that.
How has the actual act of filming the show, having it come out and seeing the reaction from fans changed your friendships in this group?
I don’t know if it’s 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’s what works. But now it’s like, okay, we have ideas, we have suggestions. You’ll see things play out this season where it’s very clearly someone’s idea. Everyone basically had their hand in the pie. Everyone wanted to make it more entertaining for viewers.
When you first joined the cast, did you know that you would be the first full-time trans cast member on any Bravo show?
I actually did not know that. That was crazy to me, and I don’t 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’re like, “Oh yeah, that is the case. Yeah, that’s crazy.”
I spoke with the creator of Next Gen, Michaline Babich, last year about your casting. I asked her thoughts on having such a monumental casting on Bravo with Next Gen, 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?
Yeah, that is crazy. Honestly, it’s 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’s 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’m 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’s making waves. Like, I get DMs from parents being like, “I’m watching this at home with my kid who’s thinking about transitioning.” “I’m watching this at home with my son, who just came out to me as trans.” It’s 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’s cool.
How has going on to reality TV impacted your career on social media?
Oh, it’s definitely impacted it, I think, in a very positive way. I feel like I’m taken a lot more seriously by brands, press, everything. People are now taking me from the box of just a beauty creator. Now it’s like, wow, she’s 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’s like they’re almost two different worlds, and I love when they combine, but it’s still cool that they’re different.
How would you describe your personality online versus your personality on the show?
My personality online is very all knowing. She’s this ominous beauty presence. I’ve 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’m more, in the same but different way, a mediator role with my friends. I love to have fun, but I’m very real, and I’ll 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.
Do you see yourself staying on reality TV, or is there any other sector of entertainment you’d like to dabble in?
I definitely feel like I can see myself being on reality TV for a while. It’s 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’m working on something really special in the beauty space too, that’s like a merge of beauty and technology that’s going to come out towards the end of this year. Stay tuned for that, that’s going to be incredible.
Is there anything else you can tease about that project?
Let’s just say it’s going to revolutionize the way that people shop and use new beauty products going into 2027.
What is your favorite social platform?
You know, it was TikTok, but now I actually feel like it’s Instagram. I feel like Instagram is doing a really good job of listening to what creators and audiences want. They’re actually really listening. We still love TikTok, but it’s cool to watch Instagram shift and grow.
Right now, Hollywood is catching on to the creator craze. As a creator and somebody who is in the unscripted world, what has your take been on social media taking over Hollywood?
I think it’s great when the talent aligns. I love seeing some of my TikTok creator friends in big shows and stuff. I think it’s fun for cameos, like when they get actual big roles, it’s really cool because they’re talented. It’s like they’re getting it not because they’re creators, but because they’re actually really good.
If you had to describe what your reality TV journey has been like, what would you say?
It’s definitely opened an incredible amount of doors for me, and I’m so grateful for my reality TV journey. It’s something that I felt like was always coming. I always felt like I was gonna be on reality TV one day, but I never realized how big of a deal it was, and how many doors it would open, and how much my audience would grow from it. It’s been like the biggest blessing ever, and it’s been so much fun.
Would you ever dabble in the competitive reality TV space?
Definitely, I’m very competitive. I could so see myself being on any of the really competitive shows. It’s very entertaining.
I would love to be on Traitors. I would love to be on Survivor. Big Brother, any of those. I feel like I would crush it.
If you had to describe what makes Emira, Emira, what would you say?
I would honestly say my heart. This is so cheesy, but I really do feel like I try my best to live my life with love and light. I think with my heart, not my brain, a lot of the times, and in my personal life sometimes that does not do me well. But thinking with my heart makes everything creative that I put out into this world so much more passionate, and it comes from a place of love and light. I just want to make such a positive impact in this world, and that’s what I’m trying to do.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe Sign Up
