And just like that ... Myrtle Beach gets a little shade on HBO’s ‘Sex and the City’ reboot
In many ways, it’s unsurprising that Myrtle Beach was mentioned last week by one of the most famous TV shows ever set in New York City. But it is a little surprising that it took this long, considering that the Grand Strand’s summers are filled with tourists from the northeast.
Myrtle Beach had a short, but poignant, mention during episode six of HBO’s “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That...”
If you haven’t watched the episode, stop reading here. Spoilers for how this stretch of sand stepped into the limelight follow below.
Miranda Hobbes, who has befriended her new Columbia University law professor Dr. Nya Wallace (actress Karen Pittman), sits down for coffee with Wallace to discuss an upcoming plan to open a home for displaced women and children. As Wallace is showing Hobbes photos of the construction, she gets a call from her husband, Andrea Rashad.
As soon as she answers the call, Wallace turns sullen as she discusses dinner plans for later that week before she jumps off the phone quickly.
Hobbes (actress Cynthia Nixon) notices the change in tone and asks, “What?”
Wallace, dryly, says, “Nobody has time for a casual dinner with Andre Rashad’s best friend and his wife, ‘Fertile Myrtle.’”
Up until this point, the show had told the story of how Wallace had struggled to get pregnant, including going through two difficult (and expensive) rounds of in vitro fertilization. Learning that she would be having dinner with a couple that has now had “two babies in three years” and never stops talking about their children was not high on Wallace’s list of fun things to do.
Hobbes recommends that Wallace, not known for being shy, just try to control the conversation and not “let ‘Fertile Myrtle’ go there.”
“I’ve tried Miranda, you don’t know ‘Fertile Myrtle,’” Wallace replies with exasperation.
Hobbes laughs and asks, “What’s her real name?”
And Wallace, unflinchingly, says, “Myrtle. She was conceived in Myrtle Beach.”
While this was the first time Myrtle Beach was directly mentioned on the show, there was another (much, much more famous) moment of significance from earlier in the season that can be tied back to the Grand Strand.
During the first episode, John James “Mr. Big” Preston (actor Chris Noth) died from a heart attack after he finished a Peloton ride with his favorite instructor, “Allegra.” It was a dramatic scene that led to frustration and had fans wondering online over whether the show was trying to blame exercise for causing heart problems. Some wondered whether Peloton could sue over its representation by the show, and the fitness company ultimately put out response ad showing a revived Big sitting on a couch with Allegra.
“Shall we take another ride?” Noth asks in the ad. “Life’s too short not to.”
Allegra wasn’t just any random actor, however. In real life, her name is Jess King, and she is an actual fitness instructor for Peloton. She teaches cycling and treadmill classes for the company. Oh, and she’s from Myrtle Beach, according to the New York Post.
“Jess is a charismatic instructor with a boundless energy and passion for movement. With a background in dance, performance and fitness, Jess grew up down South and moved to NYC to commit to a career in wellness,” King’s Peloton biography says.
And just like that ... Myrtle Beach got a little more famous.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 2:33 PM with the headline "And just like that ... Myrtle Beach gets a little shade on HBO’s ‘Sex and the City’ reboot."
