Brooks Marks Isn’t Your Typical Bravo Kid

Brooks Marks is living out your teenage New York fantasies. Walking to a back table at the Cipriani outpost in SoHo, Manhattan, the budding reality star and fashion designer is dressed the part in head-to-toe leather, which works for both this lunch and a party he’s going to later at The Box, a popular nightclub known for its NSFW performances. To the average onlooker, Marks looks like a typical fashion kid taking an unnecessarily long meal between meetings. But he’s more famous than Cipriani’s exclusive clientele may realize, at least within the Bravoverse.

If you know Marks, you definitely know his mother Meredith from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, one of five OGs who is still on the Bravo series six seasons in. The 25-year-old has been appearing on the show for as long as his mom has, but this is the first time he’s stepping into a lead role, as one of 10 stars of Bravo’s new show Next Gen NYC, which premieres June 3 and follows a group of friends (many of them children of Housewives) as they leave their mark on the Big Apple.

This old-school Italian institution may seem like an odd choice for a Gen Zer, who typically favor TikTok-viral downtown hot spots. (“Ariana and Hudson are obsessed with The Corner Store,” Marks tells me about his Next Gen NYC co-stars.) But rainy spring weather calls for comfort food — an endive salad and tagliardi a la bolognese — and this place holds special meaning for him. “This was one of the first restaurants my mom took me to in New York,” he says.

Marks didn’t always dream of living here, but there were signs that it was his destiny. Born in Chicago, he was a theater kid, signing with Ford Models at just 7 years old, and landing his first musical part in The Pirate Queen at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theater soon after. “I got in trouble because I missed a lot of school for it,” he recalls with a laugh. “But that was so fun.”

He’s always been close with his parents and two siblings: his younger sister Chloe — who appears on Next Gen NYC and lives with him in the West Village — and his older brother Reid. As a kid, he preferred to sleep in their bedrooms over his own. His family moved around between Chicago, Toronto, and Park City, Utah, and eventually they followed him to New York (his parents live in the city part-time when Meredith isn’t filming RHOSLC).

Marks went to New York University at his parents’ urging, choosing to attend the Gallatin School of Individualized Study so he could create his own degree that incorporated fashion design. “I loved playing with costume clothing and stuff when I was a kid,” he says. ”I loved to play around in my parents' closets. When I was 12, I'd cut up shirts and make my sister be my model for it.”

When John Oliver was wearing [the tracksuit] on Watch What Happens Live, I was like, ‘How did he even get it?’

In college, he took a semester off and moved back to Park City during his parents’ separation, which happened to coincide with the first season of RHOSLC. Unlike some Bravo kids who grew up on screen, Marks made the choice to appear on camera and support his mom. “I didn't want her to be alone in it — that's a lot to handle,” he says.

He also knew Bravo’s power when it came to promoting new businesses, and used his newfound platform to launch his namesake clothing line. During Season 1, Marks staged his first runway show during Park City Fashion Week (yes, really), where he led a group of models who were all wearing just one outfit, the Brooks Marks tracksuit.

It turns out one tracksuit was all he needed. Marks cleverly timed his first clothing drop with the fashion show airing on Bravo, and the monogram hoodie and sweatpants became a viral necessity among fans and stars alike. “When John Oliver was wearing it on Watch What Happens Live, I was like, ‘How did he even get it?’” he says. “I did not send that to him. He genuinely purchased that.” He’s since expanded his line with special-edition hoodies, pants, and more, but the OG set remains sold out.

With just a few scene-stealing minutes on RHOSLC causing that much impact, stepping into a bigger spotlight on Next Gen NYC was a no-brainer. The show introduces a new side of Marks, giving an in-depth look at his friendships, love life, and growing fashion empire. “To this day, my vision is to create a brand with a community where no one feels excluded,” he says. “I want the clothes to be comfortable, but I want everyone to feel comfortable in themselves, wearing them.”

Marks is arguably the glue of Next Gen NYC, linking friends like Ava Dash, Emira D’Spain, and Charlie Zakkour, who he met over the years at different parties, with fellow Bravo kids. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t actually know each other from Bravo. He met Riley Burruss, Gia Giudice, and Ariana Biermann, all children of famed Housewives stars, through NYU and other events. While they bonded over their shared experiences, Marks can’t completely relate.

“A lot of people in this group have experienced being born and literally just being on camera from day one, so they don't know what it's like to not film, whereas I do,” he says. “It's a crazy adjustment going from no one commenting on your life to people commenting on your life from three minutes of a TV show.”

Maybe if they’d be quiet for a second, I’d have a little more to say.

Marks quickly learned the downsides of putting his life up for public consumption. After the premiere of RHOSLC in November 2020, he was lauded for being the “first openly gay son of a Housewife,” despite saying nothing about his sexual orientation on TV. His sexuality became a storyline as he was still figuring it out himself, thanks to his mom’s former co-star Jen Shah, who liked homophobic tweets about him during the second season.

After getting a taste of hate comments, Marks briefly stepped back from filming and social media during Season 2. But it was fans who resonated with the speculation about his sexuality that brought him back. “From stories people have told me, I know that it's been super helpful to a lot of families that have children in similar positions,” he says. “That headline is like, ‘Oh my God, he had to talk about this against his will.’ Yes, that was extremely difficult, but it's incredibly positive what the outcome can be, and I'm the happiest now that I've ever been.”

Marks has yet to label his sexuality publicly, and has no intention of doing so, but he is excited to show off his dating adventures on Next Gen NYC — even if the show affects his prospects. “There was one time that I was on a date, and a guy was like, ‘Reality TV personalities are brain dead.’ I was like, ‘OK…’” he says. “That obviously made me like him.”

I assume he didn’t get a second date. Marks deadpans, “He did.”

He’s worked on ignoring the criticism (“I learned from my mom how to disengage”), but he’s still learning how to navigate tensions within his friend group, especially the co-stars who claim he doesn’t speak his mind in the trailer. “Some of them were so outspoken that I don't think I could speak, so maybe if they’d be quiet for a second, I’d have a little more to say,” he says.

Eventually, he hopes to live the traditional American dream, with a family full of kids and a business that’s “exponentially more successful than it is now.” But he’s not sure exactly what that would look like, and he’s in no rush to figure it out. He’s more concerned about how late he’ll be getting home from The Box.

“I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, honestly,” he says. “I'm just loving my life right now. What's great about New York is that so many people live in the moment here and don't think too much about what's in the future.”