the take
we're split on this one. one of us thinks Charlie wasn't being diabolical, he's just a blabber who forgot he was still mic'd up, which has happened throughout broadcast history, while the other thinks he's smart enough to have done it on purpose. either way, we don't think it worked in his favor, and he might have been better off stopping at "you don't want me to say what I'm going to say." once production cuts, you probably do forget the mic is on, so a full Lisa Barlow moment isn't impossible. we just can't decide if it was a slip or a strategy.
this is the hosts' commentary and speculation for entertainment, not a statement of fact about anyone in it.
the backstory
Charlie Zakkour has been on Next Gen NYC since season 1. At the season 2 reunion, which aired in two parts in September 2026, he said on stage that he didn't want to repeat something Ariana Biermann had told him privately. Then, during a break, he told Ava Dash anyway, and Reality Tea's recap says Ava reminded him he was still wearing a mic. Earlier in the season, he'd also been caught on a mic talking about Ariana with Shai Fruchter.
A hot mic moment is when a cast member says something they assume won't air while their microphone is still recording. The best-known Bravo example is Lisa Barlow on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. During a season 2 episode that aired in January 2022, she was caught on a mic ranting about Meredith Marks after walking away from a group dinner.
In the clip, we're split on whether Charlie's moment was an accident or a strategy.
where it's from
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transcript
auto-transcribed from the clip audio. speakers aren't labeled and there may be small errors.
- 0:00The crazy thing to me as well is I don't think Charlie was necessarily
- 0:04being diabolical when he had the hot mic moment.
- 0:07I actually think that he just wasn't even thinking about it.
- 0:10And he is just such a blabber.
- 0:12Like he does say shit all the time.
- 0:15So he probably was just like, Oh, I'm talking to my friend.
- 0:18I need to get it out of my system.
- 0:19Like I need to like tell people what was actually possible.
- 0:22He is smart.
- 0:23He might have said it on purpose.
- 0:25Okay.
- 0:26So what do we think?
- 0:26But right.
- 0:28Did Charlie say it on purpose?
- 0:30Did Charlie say it on purpose?
- 0:31I do think if the cameras are often like productions cut, you do probably
- 0:35forget that you're still mic'd up.
- 0:36Absolutely.
- 0:37It's happened throughout like broadcast history.
- 0:40Absolutely.
- 0:41I don't know if Charlie was being diabolical.
- 0:43I feel like he just truly had like Lisa Barlow hot mic moment.
- 0:47But how calculated would that be?
- 0:50But I actually don't think that it really worked in his favor because I
- 0:54actually thought it was going to be a lot worse than it actually was.
- 0:58So I think it actually would have been better
- 0:59if he had left it when he was like, you don't want me to say what I'm going to say.
- 1:05Yeah.
- 1:05He came off looking like a gentleman and looking at Ferrari.
- 1:08Totally.
faq
- What was Charlie's hot mic moment on Next Gen NYC?
- During a break at the season 2 reunion, Charlie told Ava Dash something Ariana Biermann had told him, after saying on stage he didn't want to repeat it. Ava reminded him he was still wearing a mic.
- What was Lisa Barlow's hot mic moment?
- On a season 2 episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City that aired in January 2022, Lisa Barlow was caught on a mic ranting about Meredith Marks after walking away from a group dinner.
