Thank you, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and all those keeping us sane during these terrible times

Social media can be a cesspit, but at its best it provides us with something we need almost as much as hospital beds, and that’s some laughs, writes Jenny Eclair

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has been holding regular kitchen discos, live-streamed on Instagram (Getty)

Last week, Boris and his “not yet bride”, Carrie Symonds, appeared together on television to nominate certain members of NHS staff for the Pride of Britain Awards. Sitting on a sofa, close but not touching, the couple had all the presence of an unconvincing mid-morning TV twosome, with Boris occasionally treating Carrie like a nine-year-old who’d managed to remember her lines.

That the entire NHS deserve Pride of Britain awards is not in any doubt, but I’d like to propose an alternative prize-giving ceremony for the people who have kept us going through these frankly terrible times, not with their nursing skills, but via their social media accounts. They might not be saving lives in the same way as those on the medical frontline, but they could be helping to save our sanity.

First up, “Queen of the Feel-Good Instagram Account” is Sophie Ellis-Bextor, divine songstress and mother of five boys, ranging from teen to toddler. Throughout the first lockdown in spring, Ellis-Bextor, who is incidentally the daughter of all round good egg, ex-Blue Peter presenter and author Janet Ellis, held regular Friday night kitchen discos from her London home. Ellis-Bextor reprised the disco last Friday for Halloween, sensing possibly that more restrictions were on their way and that people might need cheering up.

She was right – there is something so joyous about Ellis-Bextor’s kitchen discos, filmed by her husband, pop star Richard Jones. The combination of sequins and rock’n’roll glamour, juxtaposed with the detritus of life with a large family of boys is massively appealing. The gorgeously leggy Ellis-Bextor performs in full make-up, heels and costume under a twinkling mirror ball with various kids drifting in and out, the youngest of whom has grown in lockdown from baby to little person.

It’s an act of open-door generosity and although for me, the music plays second fiddle to seeing the family, I hugely admire the way Sophie gives it her all, trilling gamely into a handheld mic, while sippy beakers bounce across the floor and under her feet. I’d like to give this girl the biggest thank you medal for her services to combatting lockdown dreariness. And if you’ve missed the discos, they’re all available to watch on YouTube.

The second person I’d like to nominate for a “Keeping us Cheerful on Social Media” medal is my mate and fellow stand-up, Janey Godley. Janey is as Glaswegian as the Clyde, she is hard talking and brilliantly quick witted and her voiced-over Sturgeon and Trump clips on Twitter are both hilarious and clever. Ignored for far too many years by the mainstream media – mostly for being too female, too working class and too Scottish – Janey has taken lockdown by the horns and kept shaking it for laughs, month after month. The upshot of moving her comedy online and its ensuing viral success is that, finally, she’s being shown some respect by producers of shows such as Have I Got News for You. Go Janey!

A medal, too, should go to the artist David Shrigley, he of the 2016 big bronze thumb on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar square. Shrigley’s lockdown Instagram account has been a visual daily treat, as he illustrates these times with a mixture of the bleak and subversive, including a recent picture of an out of control fire alongside the words: “Everything is fine, no need to worry.” Well, they make me laugh anyway.

Some people, of course, have been inadvertently entertaining online over the past eight months. So let’s give thanks to the “Accidentally Hilarious Mega Celebrity”, whose antics have raised eyebrows and the occasional snigger.  

My most recent nomination for this category is she of the juicy bum, Kim Kardashian, who decided that it was a good idea to gloat on social media over a 40th birthday party spent on a luxury private island in Tahiti with 40 of her closest, privately Covid-tested mates. Really Kim, is this the time? Add to this the fact that her surprise 40th birthday gift from her husband Kanye was a hologram of her dead dad and the Twitter backlash kept me chuckling for at least two days. Thanks for the laughs, Kim, whether you mean them or not.

I’d also like to applaud people posting “is she or isn’t she” pictures of Melania Trump, because I for one am more than happy with a fake Flotus rumour. Let’s face it, anything that can make us laugh is extremely welcome right now.

Less well known foot soldiers of amusement that I would grant prizes to on my “Night of Social Media Stars” are the hundreds of people I follow on Twitter and Instagram who fill my timeline with suggestions for TV shows, podcasts and books to get us through these tricky days, who retweet videos of babies playing drums and dogs being daft.

Social media can be a cesspit, but at its best it provides us with something we need almost as much as hospital beds, and that’s some laughs, a lot of heart and a big dollop of soul.