TV Shows
Documentaries

Netflix's 'MerPeople' trailer teases the ebbs and flows of being a professional mermaid

"You could potentially lose everything."
By Sam Haysom  on 
Two people in mermaid costumes swim underwater.
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You may have thought mermaids were the stuff of cartoons and fairytales, but you'd be wrong about that. For some, it's a career path.

The trailer above for Netflix's documentary MerPeople, made by the producers of Queer Eye, follows a range of people working professionally as mermaids, auditioning for the intense (and very real) training before putting on shows as part of what is apparently a half a billion dollar industry.

Like the idea of it? Well, you can always get some lessons yourself.

MerPeople drops on Netflix on May 23(opens in a new tab).

Sam Haysom is the Deputy UK Editor for Mashable. He covers entertainment and online culture, and writes horror fiction in his spare time.

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