The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Kandi Burruss has strong feelings about who her daughter, Next Gen NYC’s Riley Burruss, dates, and she’s not holding back. Now, Kandi is sharing more of those opinions on Rilley’s yet-to-be-named boyfriend.
Kandi recently revealed that she was “shocked” about the new man in her daughter’s life. Why? “I actually like this one.”
So Kandi claimed when she and Riley appeared on Sherri Shepherd’s eponymous daytime talk show. Said the Grammy Award-winning musician, “I like him a lot … I love him because he’s smart, and he’s like really pushing [Riley] to do better.”
The boyfriend, according to mom, continues to help Riley in many ways. One of them includes having conversations about saving money, which could come in handy as the NYU grad pursues her goals. “I think that helps when you have good influence around you, somebody who sees great things for you, and he has his own thing going on. He’s educated, he’s doing big things,” Kandi added. Of course, the proud mom has always been outspoken about the life paths her daughter is on, from Riley’s career success to her grad school journey.
Also on the talk show, Riley chimed in about how the mystery man fares against others. “A lot of men nowadays are rough, but he is really amazing,” she said. “He’s a great man. His parents are amazing, and they raised a really amazing young man.”
The RHOA-based relatives agreed, “He’s a part of the family now.”
Who is Riley Burruss’ new boyfriend?
Riley has yet to reveal her special guy’s name. Riley soft-launched her new guy in July 2025 without sharing too many details. Initially, she shared a photo of both of them at Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour, where she and the unnamed fella had a “yeehaw”-ing ol’ time as her caption hinted. Riley posted a mirror selfie of the man kissing her on the cheek as she donned an epic country getup, with denim cutoffs and a cowgirl hat to boot.
Riley later shared another photo of them kissing, but managed to hide her beau’s face.
Related: Go Inside Kandi and Riley Burruss’ Ultra Glam Night Out (PHOTOS)
When did Riley Burruss start dating her current boyfriend?
As Riley explained, “I think everyone knows I like to keep my life private, but now, you know.”
Despite sharing more of herself on Next Gen NYC, Riley maintained, “I still try to keep my love life, you know, close to my heart.”
Related: Kandi Burruss Reveals Where She Stands with Riley’s Dad Today: See Her Message
In that same WWHL episode, Kandi reiterated her approval for her daughter’s special person. “I love him,” she said, “and I think he’s really nice.”
Riley Burruss and her boyfriend celebrate her 23rd birthday
Even though Riley has been fiercely protective about her romantic life, she did share a few photos on Instagram with her guy to celebrate her 23rd birthday. Kandi jumped into the comment section of her daughter’s post and dropped a few heart emojis.
“So beautiful,” Ariana Biermann commented, and Brooks Marks also came with the fire emoji.
Check out what Kandi recently shared about Riley’s career, and how she “did everything herself.”
