Gia Giudice recently addressed the mixed reception she received from some fans of the show Next Gen NYC. As the daughter of Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice, Gia reflected on the expectation for her to emulate her mother, and expressed a desire for viewers to see a more genuine side of her.

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Throughout the first season, Gia faced criticism from certain fans for intervening in disputes to support her friends, despite not being directly involved. Her latest endeavor involves competing on Special Forces, where she is subjected to intense challenges and harsh conditions.

In a conversation on the podcast Casual Chaos, Gia recounted an amusing encounter with a fan’s opinion about her portrayal on the first season.

“I came across this TikTok video that I found amusing,” Gia shared. “A girl posted saying that she didn’t really like me during the first season, but after watching me on Special Forces, I became her favorite. However, she worried that she might not like me again in the upcoming season of Next Gen NYC.” Gia confessed that the first season didn’t represent her truly.

“I actually saw this really funny TikTok, well, it was funny to me, of this girl. She posted a video. She was like, ‘I really didn’t like Gia that much, and after watching Special Forces, like she is my favorite … I just fear that when I watch her on season 2 of Next Gen, I’m not going to like her again,’” recalled Gia, who admitted that season 1 of Next Gen was “not it for me.”

“And when this girl said this in this video, I was like, ‘I get it. Like I get why I maybe wasn’t your favorite on Next Gen. Like I didn’t love me on Next Gen [either], but I do love me on Special Forces, because that’s me.”

On a different episode of her podcast, Gia suggested that Next Gen was a “good experience,” but the show perhaps portrayed her like a younger version of Teresa.

“I think they were waiting for me to always have these mini-Teresa moments because they love that nepo baby,” she explained, via All About TRH. “I just hated giving that to them because I was like, that’s not me.”

“I genuinely have the biggest heart. I’m a hustler, I’m a hard worker, and I guess I could say that I wish more of that was captured,” said the star. “Rather than mini-Teresa moments … [The show] was a mirror and I self-reflected and now I know how I’m going to be a better version of myself moving forward.”

“I have a ‘mom instinct’ and am a ‘protector,’” Gia went on, “but [I] also need to pull back sometimes because not everyone wants [my] opinion … I think people were able to see I am compassionate and I mean well … Even if I come off harsh [in some instances].”