Rowan Francis Henchy has no regrets about how she portrayed herself during her debut season of Next Gen NYC — even if some fans think she gave “nothing” to the cameras.
“I love the comments that are like, ‘Yes, Rowan, give us nothing,’” Rowan, 23, exclusively told Us on Monday, August 31, laughing off criticism of her more reserved approach to season 2 of the Bravo series. “Because like, OK, I’d rather give you nothing than [be] throwing stuff. It’s not in my character. It’s not who I am.”
Brooke Shields’ daughter, who made her reality TV debut during the season 2 premiere, noted that she “had fun” which is all that matters.
“Like at the end of the day, this is fun. This is life. And I don’t care if it’s nothing,” Rowan quipped.
The Good Morning America booking producer explained that even with haters questioning her non-confrontational style, she wouldn’t change anything about her performance.
“I don’t really believe in regrets because I think you learn from everything that you do,” Rowan told Us. “I don’t regret doing anything in the season. [Are there] things I would have done differently? Sure.”
Rowan — who is the eldest child of Shields, 61, and husband Chris Henchy — admitted that there are things she wants to “do different every single day” but when it comes to the Bravo show, she’s content with her choices. (Shields and Henchy, 62, also share daughter Grier Hammond, 20.)
“I trust my inner conscience, and I think that the way I approached this past season is, I don’t know, admirable, maybe for myself,” she added.
While many fans of Next Gen NYC — which stars many children from the Real Housewives franchise as they navigate their lives in the Big Apple — were fans of Rowan’s humor and opinions, she told Us she’s learned to let most negative comments roll off her back.
“Whatever. It’s fine. I don’t care,” Rowan said of the online jabs.
The Bravo star, however, did reveal that she has fallen victim to reading social media comments despite being warned not to look at what people are writing.
“The negative comments for me don’t really bother me at all … it’s when people kind of come for my character [that annoy me],” Rowan shared, explaining that when someone says she “seems spoiled or rotten” that rubs her the wrong way.
Rowan told Us, “I don’t ever want to be perceived as disrespectful. You could say I look like a troll with eight arms and warts everywhere, and I would, like, genuinely probably take it as a compliment.”
Remarks about how she was raised, however, are off limits.
“The second someone kind of questions me or who I am and says maybe, like, she was raised poorly, which I haven’t really seen, that’s where I will kind of put my guard up,” Rowan continued.
Despite wanting to protect herself from possible misconceptions, Rowan joked that “Julie 967 from Montana” decides to criticize her online, her only response is, “What you gonna do, right?”
Rowan added that as the season comes to an end, she has been lucky enough to not find herself “in hot water,” teasing that “we’ll see how the rest of the season unfolds.”
Based on Rowan’s ability to stay on the periphery in most group arguments, it seems unlikely that she’ll become a problem ahead of the Wednesday, September 9, finale.
Rowan, however, did tell Us that she “stood up for people” during the reunion, hinting that she didn’t stay on the sidelines the whole time as some fans might have guessed.
“Things come out. People talk. It’s a reunion, and it’s good. It’s a free therapy session,” she shared. “We all ended up hanging out after that at my house. We had a late night, so we ended on good terms and talking with everyone after people felt good.”
Next Gen NYC airs on Bravo Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
