Next Gen NYC star Emira D’Spain has long been the voice of reason in her friend group. So, it was no surprise that the wildly successful content creator was one of the few to keep her cool on a recent girls night out. While D’Spain and Georgia McCann have been known to clash, D’Spain was truly “shocked” when McCann revealed that it was D’Spain’s former bestie Charlie Zakkour—and not McCann’s infamous “gay grapevine”—who told her that D’Spain thought she was being inappropriate with her boyfriend, Kevin Stefanick.

Despite McCann exposing Zakkour’s betrayal, D’Spain maintained a level head. “At first, I didn’t believe her because she had something to gain from causing a problem between myself and Charlie,” explained D’Spain. “It felt like she was trying to stir the pot a little bit, especially after changing her narrative suddenly.” However, D’Spain did learn a valuable lesson after she confronted Zakkour and he admitted that McCann’s claims were true. “Sometimes being a loyal friend really does come back to bite you in the ass,” said D’Spain simply.

In the midst of all her friend drama, D’Spain was struggling with work/life balance and dealing with the self-imposed pressure of taking care of her family. “I’ve always been very strong-willed, so I try to not take help even when I need it, “ said D’Spain. However, D’Spain bravely confided in her mother, Fouzia, about the stress she was under. “It felt good to have that conversation with my mom and open up to her about what I had been dealing with.” Today, D’Spain is “feeling a lot better about everything.”

D’Spain stopped by the Decider studio to talk about the season so far, weigh in on whether Ariana Biermann had Riley Burruss’ back during girls night, and much more.

DECIDER: Emira, let’s get into last week’s episode! It’s fair to say that the girls’ night out was a bit of a mess. Did you have any idea what you were getting yourself into?

EMIRA D’SPAIN: No [laughs]. This was the first time that everyone in our group spent a night out like that together. I had no idea about what was going to happen.

The person I felt most sorry for during the dueling girls’ night/boys’ night was Gia’s boyfriend, Christian. Did you know about the sad texts he was sending to her all night?

No, I did not know that he was so sad [laughs]. I mean, I had a feeling. We all knew that Brooks wanted out of there. We were happy that everyone came over to girls’ night.

One of the night’s bombshell moments was when Georgia revealed that it was not the “gay grapevine” but actually Charlie who told her that you thought she was flirting with your boyfriend, Kevin. How shocked were you that he was her source?

I was shocked. It’s really unfortunate because I felt like Georgia was trying to make it seem like Charlie said those things. At first, I didn’t believe her because she had something to gain from causing a problem between myself and Charlie. She obviously has a vendetta against him. It felt like she was trying to stir the pot a little bit, especially after changing her narrative suddenly.

That betrayal really seemed to hit you hard because you were the person who stood by Charlie and kept inviting him to things after the crypto torture house scandal. Do you regret how loyal you were to him?

At that point, I did not regret how loyal I was. Later on, you will see that sometimes being a loyal friend really does come back to bite you in the ass.

You also expose Georgia’s “gay grapevine,” which you claim consists of Georgia’s friend, Cooper, and your assistant, Nate. Do you stand by that or do you think Georgia’s network extends into Europe like she claims?

I definitely feel like she does have a network of gays. I hate saying that because you shouldn’t refer to people by their sexuality. I prefer to say that she definitely has her little network of minions. I believe that is true.

In the teaser for tonight’s episode, you confront Charlie for repeating what you said in confidence to Georgia and everything seems to explode. What can you tease about confrontation?

It’s not what’s said in the moment; it’s things that were said in the past that really hurt the most. Sometimes when people change and grow, they don’t necessarily like that they still have to account for their past actions.

Going back to the girls’ night, it’s safe to say that Riley Burruss was not her best self. Were you surprised by her drunken behavior? Did you have any idea how much Georgia triggered her?

I honestly did not think she was going to be triggered by Georgia like that and react in that way. Riley is the youngest of our friend group. She has a hot temper, but that’s just part of her personality. It felt unfortunate that Georgia was poking her a little bit to keep their issue going all night long.

Later in the episode, Riley accuses Ariana Biermann of not having her back when she did not deescalate things that evening. However, in my eyes, it seemed like Ariana was doing all she could to step in and stop Riley from spiraling. What’s your take on the situation?

Ariana absolutely had Riley’s back that entire night. Ariana and I and even Ava [Dash] were trying to deescalate the situation. Ariana really was trying to look out for Riley and get her home. Ariana knew Riley would look back on the evening and be like, “oh my god, what happened?”

Earlier this season, you open up to your mother about your struggles with work/life balance and the pressure you feel. How difficult was that conversation for you ? How are you doing today?

It was really difficult. I work myself to the bone. I’ve always been very strong-willed, so I try not to take help even when I need it, which is unfortunate [laughs]. Opening up to my mom about that struggle was really hard because I don’t like looking weak to my parents. I don’t like my parents to see me in a vulnerable state because I want to be the one who is strong enough to take care of them and my brothers. I I put immense pressure on myself. It felt good to have that conversation with my mom and open up to her about what I had been dealing with. It had been weighing on me for a while. Today, I’m feeling a lot better about everything. Life is still a struggle, but it’s getting better.

You talked about the not-so-great side of being a content creator, but have you been able to find joy in your work again?

I have. I have started to practice gratitude in different ways. That’s made me aware of how lucky I am. Like, how blessed am I to be stressed out and overwhelmed by the things I once prayed for [laughs]?

It’s clear that Ava and the other girls look up to you and admire what you’ve built for yourself. Will we see you continue to be a role model as the season goes on?

Oh, my God. I don’t know if I should be a role model, honey [laughs]. I try to be my best self, but at the end of the day, I’m only human. While it’s great to have friends who ask me for advice or look up to me because of my career, I also want everyone to build their own things. What worked for me may not necessarily work for Ava or Riley or whoever. However, I will always be a voice of reason for them and give them the best advice that I can.