THEY describe their podcast as “sitting down with your two funniest, most honest friends”.
But former Made In Chelsea stars Melissa Tattam and Ruby Adler seem to have broken all girl code with their latest “unfiltered conversation” on the new episode of podcast Wednesdays – and it has caused an absolute storm with their loyal fans.
Reminiscent of a “cliquey” girl group at school, the reality stars sat on a Zoom call to record their podcast, rolling their eyes and giggling about women who play netball in their spare time.
The pair were branded “mean girls” after the now-deleted clip was shared to their 176,000 followers on Instagram.
Melissa, 29, said: “So my girlfriends all sign up to play f*****g netball after work and I’m like: ‘We literally don’t have to do that anymore.
“We left school ten years ago. You don’t have to do that anymore.”
Ruby added: “I think it is being part of some form of community and like feeling you are part of something because there are some girls who go to the gym I go to who are part of a netball club.”
Rolling her eyes and giggling, Melissa says: “No, I can’t cope. I can’t.”
Ruby adds: “They are like do you want to come? I’m like: ‘I don’t think you could pay me enough to come like I don’t want to come, I don’t want to do it at school and I don’t want to do it now.’”
Melissa, 29, added: “I could not agree more.”
Ruby replied: “We have all got free will and we are using it that way to go and play netball?”
Melissa then went on: “It is so bizarre to me as well but people love it. It is like men playing golf.
“A lot of my girlfriends’ friends play football after work, play hockey after work, play golf on the weekends and then the girlies go off to play netball in the winter.
“It is freezing cold firstly you’ve got to trek yourself to Battersea then you have got to play matches on the weekend and clearly they love it and I’m like I wish I could relate to that in some way.
“I think there are definitely two types of people in this world: people that were on the A and B teams at school and they have carried on that passion into their thirties and twenties.
“Then there are people like me and you who just don’t like it and we’re just not sporty girls.
Laughing, Ruby added: “I can’t imagine trekking to Battersea on Tuesday night to play goal attack, like, I couldn’t do it.
“There are so many other things like I would just want to go to the pub.”
One fan commented: “It’s sad when women still give mean girl energy at this age.”
Another said: “It’s giving P.E. and in a weird cliquey way.”
A third wrote: “Imagine being a woman, taking the p**s out of another women and claiming to be a girl’s girl.”
“It’s sad when women still give mean girl energy at this age,” another user added.
It comes as a survey by AXA UK last year found that just seven per cent of women over 18 in the UK play team sports, with the average person quitting by the time they reach 21.
A source said: “Mocking women who play sports after work should not be on an agenda of podcast conversations.
“Ruby and Melissa are role models for many young girls and women in their twenties who are finding their feet.
“Surveys have shown that girls rarely continue playing team sports after they leave school and this sort of conversation only makes it worse.”
I have been part of a netball league in South West London for nearly four years now and love nothing more than putting on a wing attack bib in the middle of winter.
Perhaps instead of sitting on a podcast, I should invite Melissa and Ruby down for a game?
Representatives for Ruby and Melissa were approached for comment.