Even though Ariana Biermann and Hudson McLeroy broke up on camera during the Next Gen NYC Season 2 premiere, it was hardly the first time the couple had split over the past decade. In fact, Hudson remained optimistic during their October 2025 breakup conversation that he and Ariana could still make their relationship work “one day.”
How to Watch
Next Gen NYCÂ premieres Wednesday, June 24 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. Episodes stream next day on Peacock.Â
Viewers will have to stay tuned to Next Gen NYC (streaming on Peacock) to find out if Ariana and Hudson are back together again, but in the meantime, they recently offered a major clue about their current relationship status during the Season 2 premiere party.
In red carpet photos with their castmates at the celebratory June 14 brunch, Ariana and Hudson were noticeably holding hands (see below). The two also posed for their own photos together, seeming to hint that they have indeed rekindled their romance.
RELATED: Ariana Biermann and Hudson McLeroy’s Breakup Was Caught on Camera: Watch
Their casual PDA at the event followed months of reconciliation speculation that sparked based on their recent social media activity. In April, for example, Hudson captioned an Instagram post (which appeared to include an obscured photo of Ariana), “Back and better than ever…” While Ariana “liked” the post, castmate Riley Burruss commented, “Wait [who’s] that girl … u have some explaining to do.”
Inside Ariana Biermann and Hudson McLeroy’s love story
As mentioned, Ariana and Hudson’s relationship timeline has included several breakups and makeups, as they further detailed on the Next Gen NYC After Show. According to the duo, they’d always lived parallel lives: They were born just a day apart in the same Atlanta-area hospital, and Ariana’s mom, Kim Zolciak, may or may not even have a picture of them on a playground together when they were around 3 years old, according to Hudson.
Ariana and Hudson officially met when they were 14, however, thanks to an assist from her sister. After spotting him on a beach, she believed Hudson to be “the love of Ariana’s life,” and gave him her sister’s phone number. Because Ariana was grounded her “whole entire freshman year” of high school for “sneaking out” of the house, the two secretly communicated for almost a year before finally meeting in person on her birthday.
“My sisters snuck me, like, out of the house, told my mom we were just going to this mall, just us, and we went and met up with Hudson,” Ariana recalled on the After Show. “I saw him and I was like, ‘Oh my God … I’m gonna marry this man.'”
RELATED: Ariana Biermann & Hudson McLeroy’s Relationship Timeline: Sweethearts, Rekindled Love & a Big Breakup
Still, it was “really hard” for them to date under her parents’ watchful eye, Ariana said, and their hangouts were confined to just outside her gated driveway. In the interim, Hudson was “obviously dating other people,” according to Ariana, but when her mom and dad finally “un-grounded” her, they dated on and off for the next several years.
As she concluded, “We’ve been through some life together.”
Why Ariana Biermann and Hudson McLeroy broke up on Next Gen NYC Season 2
Fast-forward to Next Gen NYC Season 2, and Ariana and Hudson were navigating another challenging chapter in their relationship amid their recent move from Atlanta to Manhattan. In an Episode 1 confessional, Ariana unpacked her decision to break up with Hudson and move out of their shared apartment.
“Since I was 14, I saw this boy who I loved, who I wanted to help,” she explained to a producer. “He always called me when he was down bad. He knew I was gonna be there because I care about this person so deeply. And they deserve somebody to be there and hold their hand. And then, as time went on, I kind of realized nobody was holding mine.”
Ariana continued, “I felt very alone. I told him six months ago, ‘Please, I don’t want to do this. We’ve built a life together. You don’t take me on dates; you don’t do any of these things. Like, come on. Like, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help you.’ He just needs to grow up.”
As Hudson, separately, elaborated to a producer, “After Season 1, we didn’t realize the amount of stress New York had put on our relationship. I just wasn’t emotionally growing, not working at anything, not having any kind of drive to want to go do anything. It was kind of becoming unattractive to her, which, in turn, made her break up with me.”
As they navigate their new relationship dynamic, don’t miss a sneak peek at what to expect from Ariana and Hudson on Next Gen NYC Season 2.
