Your Valentine’s Day inspiration: The UK’s favourite TV couple revealed!
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, romance is in the air. Not yet feeling the love? You may want to turn on your TV – a new survey from Elite Singles has revealed that a whopping 91% of Brits consider snuggling up and watching a romantic TV show to be a great date!
The survey also discovered the UK’s 10 most beloved TV couples of all time. From will-they/won’t-they pairings, on-again/off-again matches, to rock-solid romances, these relationships are officially #couplegoals.
The UK’s top 10 TV couples:
10. Frank and Pat Butcher (EastEnders)
9. Sam and Diane (Cheers)
8. Scott and Charlene (Neighbours)
7. Marge and Homer (The Simpsons)
6. Jack and Vera Duckworth (Coronation Street)
5. Mulder and Scully (The X-Files)
4. Carrie and Mr. Big (Sex and the City)
3. Gavin and Stacey (Gavin and Stacey)
2. Basil and Sybil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)
1. Ross and Rachel (Friends)
If this list shows anything, it’s that singles in the UK love more than a little chaos and comedy in their relationships, a finding that we always suspected, but now have confirmed!
Thirty six percent pick will-they/won’t-they as the ultimate type of TV romance, but 26% opt instead for a happily-ever-after ending, while 28% think on-again/off-again is number one. In fact, almost everyone wants love to succeed with: the ‘couple who never made it’ storyline style is only a favourite for 4%.
Whatever dynamic inspires you, if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day date idea, you should consider watching TV with your partner. Not only is it a popular date night, but watching TV couples makes a majority of people (58%) feel romantic and inspired in their own love life.
Why’s that? For 41% of UK singles, it’s because they love the romance when a TV couple finally gets together. Thirty six percent want the suspense of waiting to see if they’ll get that happy ending, and 23% adore watching the drama of TV couples breaking up and making up.
EliteSingles Relationship Psychologist Zoe Coetzee explains that just as we get scared watching a horror movie, we also feel the release of serotonin and feel-good love hormones watching a romance unfold on TV.
People connect with fictional characters through empathetic feelings, and neuroscience research has shown that the same hormones and chemicals associated with stress and attachment in real life situations are released while watching TV. So a TV romance can actually emulate the feelings of a real-life romance – just one of the reasons why TV couples are so popular!
