Viral social media creator ‘explores Wales until it’s ugly’

A social media creator has put Wales to the test in a viral series to see if it is ‘ugly’.

Natasha Gupta, who goes by the handle @Natooooooosh, has built up a 700k-strong following on Instagram and TikTok with her ongoing series.

In ‘Exploring X country until it’s ugly’, Natasha uses Google Street View to look around countries including Belgium, Algeria, Croatia, Italy and Switzerland.

By moving the cursor quickly across the map of the country, she lands in random spots and determines whether they are ‘not ugly’ or ‘ugly’.

When she finds a spot she considers ‘ugly’, the video ends, playing on the short-form video format ‘ending the video when X happens’ popular across TikTok and Instagram.

Natasha took on Wales in a video that has been viewed almost 2 million times since it was posted last year, exploring eight locations before declaring a back alley in south Wales ‘ugly’.

The first location she explored was a church near Newcastle Emlyn, which impressed Natasha and was quickly deemed “not ugly”.

Landing on a country road near Bala and spotting some animals in a nearby field, Natasha says: “Oh my God, are those sheep?”

A commenter later replied to the video writing: “Yes, Natasha, you’re in wales. Those are sheep.”

Caldey Island, with a view of the lighthouse and the sea, was “not ugly” along with a Manor House with a view of the mountains of Eryri.

After seeing cows in the back garden, Natasha laughs and remarks: “I think we’ve seen more animals than people so far.”

 

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Although a drab street view of a country road near the Elan Valley took some deliberation, a sunny scene captured from Trealaw Mountain overlooking the Rhondda Valley was decidedly “not ugly”.

“Wow. Oh my goodness!” Natasha exclaimed at the image of Tonypandy from the mountainside. “This is crazy.”

After another mid-Wales image, Natasha lands next to a garden centre near Carmarthen. Behind is a road which isn’t particularly aesthetically pleasing. “If we landed here, I would have considered it,” Natasha says.

However the next spot, an alleyway behind some houses in Llanelli, is where the run ends as Natasha nods and says “ugly”.

Commenters took it all in good fun, with one responding: “I just saw the view approaching Llanelli and thought ‘yeah, we finish here’ 😂”.

Another said: “Luckily you didn’t click on Rhyl you’d have stopped straight away.”

However, others were impressed with Wales’ sights, and one user replied: “I have to get my ass to Wales!”