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Ariana Biermann revealed that she considered leaving Next Gen NYC, and she shared how her mom, Kim Zolciak, responded. The star also addressed where she stands with Riley Burruss, and she hinted that she’s “there for her” more than “she’s there for me.”
On the new season, Riley and Ariana argued after Riley felt that Ariana didn’t stick up for her in another episode (amid Riley’s separate argument with Georgia McCann). Despite the fan backlash, Riley doubled down on the Next Gen NYC: After Show, where she shared that Ariana didn’t meet her criteria for a friend. After the episode aired, Ariana revealed on WWHL that Riley hadn’t reached out to her.
“I thought about stepping away [from the show] this year,” said Ariana on Off the Vine. “It was a lot. And the comedown… of filming back to back … for two and a half months, three months, and then stopping filming. And then [there were] things that followed, and then thinking about my behavior.”
“I told my mom, I was like, ‘I want to come home. I want to see you. I don’t want to do this anymore. I am like completely tapped out and honestly so drained,'” Ariana responded. “And she was like, ‘You don’t have to. Get home if you want to get home. Come live with me. Do whatever you want.’ But it was really a lot. And I don’t think I have been in quite as dark of a place that I was in this January and February.”
But Ariana said she’s in a better place now, and what “doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“So I think that’s why this reunion is really stressful for me. But I’m going to walk in with my head held high and tell whoever I need to tell to … f**k off,” she added.
As for where she stands with Riley today, Ariana expressed, “I love Riley. … In the Watch What Happens Live, I meant she has not spoken to me since the episode had come out. She hasn’t reached out to me. I think my words got a little bit misconstrued. It’s also a very touchy subject with me. I never want to upset her. … But I love Riley, and I will always care about her, and I always want to be her friend.”
Ariana said she understood where Riley was coming from when she expressed that she needed more from Ariana as a friend.
“I did [understand], because I feel like, you know what, you never know how to be the best friend you can possibly be to somebody all the time. And so I’m always down to listen and hear what she needs from me and stuff like that,” she said. “I think that the part that kind of threw me off a little bit was watching the After Show where she’s basically talking about how I’m a s**t friend.”
“And that kind of threw me for a little bit of a loop and hurt my feelings. I was in tears watching it because I was like, ‘Wait, I’m so confused. I thought we were like past this,'” she added. “And also, I would say I’m there for her quite a bit more than she’s there for me.”