Riley Burruss is opening up about the biggest support system in her life: her mom, Kandi Burruss.
While appearing on Gia Giudice’s podcast Casual Chaos, Riley got candid about navigating the public criticism that has come with being on Next Gen NYC. The season has not been easy for Riley, who has faced backlash over her behavior on the show and recently revealed she also received racist messages after her phone number was allegedly leaked.
During the conversation, Gia asked Riley how much she leans on Kandi when things get tough, especially since Kandi has been in the Bravo world for years and has always publicly had her daughter’s back.
“Your mom’s been vocal and always in your corner through everything,” Gia said. “How much do you lean on her when things get tough?”
Riley made it clear that Kandi is the person she turns to the most.
“I lean on her so much, like a thousand million percent,” Riley said.
Riley explained that Kandi knows exactly how to support her because she understands her personality and can tell what Riley needs in the moment.
“She knows how I am clearly, so sometimes she’ll give me the tough love, sometimes she’ll give me the sweet love, depending on, you know, how I’m feeling,” Riley shared. “But she knows how it is.”
That advice means even more coming from Kandi, who has spent most of her life in the spotlight. Before becoming a Real Housewives of Atlanta staple, Kandi was already famous as a member of Xscape and later as a Grammy-winning songwriter.
Riley said her mom understands what it means to grow up under public scrutiny.
“She’s been doing this since she was like 14 or no, 16,” Riley said. “So she understands the public eye and now how it’s changed even with social media and everything.”
Riley added, “It’s crazy how much it’s changed.”
And that is the part that makes Riley’s experience so different. While Kandi has dealt with fame for decades, Riley is now navigating a very different version of public attention — one where every scene, facial expression and argument can instantly turn into online discourse.
Riley also spoke about what she wants people to understand about her after watching the season.
Rather than pretend she handled everything perfectly, Riley admitted she knows she has made mistakes.
“I want people to understand that, yes, I mess up,” Riley said. “And yes, I’m not saying this is going to be the last time I mess up.”
But Riley says she genuinely wants to learn from those moments.
“I want to learn so much and I want to grow so much,” she explained.
Riley also made it clear that she is not closed off to criticism when it comes from a real place.
“So I’m always here for a conversation, a lesson learned, a you need to grow conversation,” Riley said.
She added, “You never have to be nervous about me being open to that.”