In 2022, comics and actors Ellie White and Natasia Demetriou starred in six bite-size episodes of their self-titled sketch show. Among the highlights: a woman who makes wild swimming her whole personality before realising she hates freezing water; a pair of overbearing, overopinionated mums who vlog from a sterilely clean kitchen (“you’re not a real mum unless you’re redecorating or knocking through at least six times a year”) and, of course, Internet Nails, about two decidedly useless eastern European beauty entrepreneurs who were branching out into a variety of business ideas (“please let us scratch you with our ink today, and if you change your mind we can burn the tattoo off with professional match”). It was often hilarious, and was definitely weird, with many parallels to the offbeat Channel 4 series Stath Lets Flats (which White and Demetriou starred in alongside the latter’s brother, its creator Jamie).
Four long years later – reportedly due to scheduling clashes – the duo are back. Ellie & Natasia series two comprises just three episodes, although – gladly – these episodes are now half an hour long rather than a mere 15 minutes. Internet Nails, in particular, remains a crucible for unsettling comedy, with the salon having become a “premiere relax styling and elegance lounge for all makeup, hair straightening and spray tanning mother-baby needs”). The fact that both women were pregnant at the time of filming only makes it funnier, and the low-rent experience (“100% birthing penthouse with perfect lukewarm Jacuzzi”) is deeply silly and – for anyone who has gone to a slightly shonky beauty shop before – astutely observed. The judgy mums are back, too, complete with advice on how to make your wardrobe stretch from “conception to birth, birth to night, night to bed, bed to menopause, menopause to coffin, and coffin to hell …”
