If you could invite 10 famous people round for a dinner party, dead or alive, who would you pick?
A new study from furniture and home furnishings retailer, The Cotswold Company, surveyed 1000 UK based adults to find out just who would claim a place on the nations dream dinner party guestlist, with results including a mix of presenters, entrepreneurs, sports personalities, musicians, politicians and even a royal making the UK’s guestlist.
National treasure, David Attenborough was the natural winner, with more than a fifth of Brits voting him their number one choice for a dinner guest, closely followed by David Beckham (21.3%), Richard Branson (19.9%) Muhammad Ali (18.75%), the Beatles (16.7%), Freddie Mercury (16.3%) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (16.1%).
Although certain key figures didn’t quite make the top 10, there were some obvious splits when it came to the lists of men vs. women, and whilst the majority of men would have opted for Taylor Swift, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Morgan Freeman on the entertainment front, women were more intent on inviting Hugh Jackman, Ed Sheeran, Louis Theroux and Dame Judy Dench along for dinner.
When it came to the city-splits, a rather colourful combination was opted for by Belfast residents, who included Jesus (29.2%), Emma Thompson (28.9%) and David Bowie (27.8%) as their top choices for house guests.
Edinburgh residents stayed true to their roots, with a quarter of those surveyed including Scottish actor and comedian, Billy Connolly, and a further fifth adding Scottish singer-songwriter, Lewis Capaldi within their top 10.
Perhaps hoping for some rather controversial dinner chat, almost a fifth of those from Cardiff stated they’d be eager for both current and past American Presidents, Donald Trump and Barak Obama to pop round for dinner.
The research also explore just how sociable Brits are, and asked questions regarding elements of dinner party etiquette such as gifting the host and overstaying your welcome.
Results showed that Brits are a fairly sociable bunch, with more than 15Million sharing that they hold or attend dinner soirees with family and friends at least once a month, however, there were 11.8Million UK adults who admitted they do so just once a year, reserving this type of gathering for occasions such as birthdays or Christmas. A further 7.8Million stated they never attend such events.
The UK’s least sociable city was revealed to be Belfast, as almost half of residents stated they never hold or attend a dinner party. Comparatively, the UK’s most sociable city was found to be London, with a quarter of those living in the city hosting or being invited round for social events every week.
The majority of Brits agree that 2.5 – 3 hours is the optimum length of time to stay at a friend or family members house for said occasions, however, more than 2.8Million Brits are seemingly unable to take a hint and are overstaying their welcome and not saying their goodbyes for over five and a half hours
Dinner party etiquette states that it is customary to bring a little something as a token for the host, and Brits are rather generous when it comes to gifting those who’ve hosted them for the evening.