Entertainment

Nico & Snooki Are Surprisingly The Most Low-Key Part About MTV's Tattoo Reality Show

If you're a fan of Jersey Shore, Younger, and tattoo-based television shows, then boy, have I got a show to tell you about. Nicole (Snooki) Polizzi of Jersey Shore fame and Nico Tortorella, who plays Josh, one of Liza's love interests on Younger, are teaming up to host a tattoo reality show for MTV, and the promos already look outrageous. The duo seems to get along really well already, so were Snooki and Nico friends before How Far Is Tattoo Far? They're sort of an unlikely pair.

It doesn't appear as though they've previously worked on anything together, and neither of them is really visible on the other's social media feed outside promotions for the show. But even if they aren't longtime pals, that doesn't really matter — their chemistry together is palpable. And judging by their social media, the big personalities have latched onto each other almost immediately. Tortorella captioned one pic of them together with Polizzi as the "comedy duo you never knew you needed," and the enthusiasm they both have for the show is clear.

The premise of the show certainly creates the potential for comedy, and if things go awry, drama, too. According to MTV's official page for the show, its goal is to put "relationships to the ultimate test of trust by asking pairs of friends, family members and couples to design tattoos for each other that won’t be revealed until after they’ve been permanently inked."

Polizzi and Tortorella are both well-versed in the art of tattoos. They've got their fair share of ink on their respective bodies, and Tortorella's character on Younger even plays a tattoo artist. That doesn't mean they want to carry any of the decision-making responsibilities when it comes to the show. In fact, they want everyone who participates to direct all their reactions — good or bad — at their loved ones who actually made the decisions.

"Every time, like right before the reveal when they take their blindfolds off, we’re like, 'just remember this wasn’t us, your friend picked this for you, but we’re just here to host the show,'" Polizzi said in an interview with Inked magazine. "I feel like we have to remind everyone, I’m not a part of this." You can't blame her — How Far Is Tattoo Far's format could definitely make for some shock, and drama between friends, which will likely make things really interesting to watch.

Despite the fact that the very nature of the show could make for a few spats, Tortorella said in the same Inked piece that at its core, the series is meant to be a light-hearted watch, and a welcome reprieve from the mayhem of real life.

"Honestly at the end of the day, this show is such an important sense of humility in my own life that I think that we need in 2018, given this political and social landscape. It’s crazy," they said. "And like, we get to show up and work and be ridiculous with each other and put silly tattoos on people and share that with the world. People may think it’s low brow, but it’s really important to get some of that in every once in a while."

It sure is. How Far Is Tattoo Far looks like a great escape for those of us watching at home, and with hosts as charismatic and wacky as Tortorella and Polizzi, it definitely feels like they're in good hands. Even if some of the contestants aren't.