Sole Mates: Discover Why 2 Million Brits Adore Their Partner’s Smelly Feet
As Brits prepare to spend romantic plans with their partners on Valentine’s Day, is love enough for us to overlook bad personal hygiene? A shocking new survey reveals that the answer is yes – over 2 million Brits (2,328,496) love their partner’s smelly feet!
Interested in uncovering this, Reboot digital PR agency surveyed 2,400 UK residents to find out the guilty sock hygiene habits of people across the country.
Key Findings:
- The equivalent to over 2 million Brits (2,328,496) admit to loving their partners’ smelly feet
- 16.7% more men love smelly feet compared to women, indicating that 1,178,275 men across the UK prefer the smell, while 1,009,950 women are just as keen
- Men who are married or in long-term relationships are 46% more likely to never wash their dirty socks compared to single men
- Men are more than twice as likely to only change their dirty socks every 3 months or less compared to women
Through a survey of 2,400 UK residents, Reboot digital PR agency can reveal that 3.5% of respondents admit to loving smelly feet on their new partner, which equates to 2,328,496 based on The World Bank’s latest UK population estimates.
| If you discovered your new partner had smelly feet would you be: | ||
| Men | Women | |
| Game over | 14.0% | 16.2% |
| Disgusting, but give it another go | 19.3% | 23.1% |
| Give an ultimatum to sort it out | 10.3% | 10.6% |
| It doesn’t really bother me | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| I love smelly feet, the smellier the better | 1.8% | 1.5% |
Please find the full survey data here
Interestingly, when it comes to women, those who are single are less likely to accept a new partner’s smelly feet (0.7%) than those in long-term relationships (0.8%). In comparison, men in long-term relationships love their partner’s smelly feet 3% more than their single counterparts (1.4%).
The report also revealed that for almost one in three Brits (30.7%), it would be game over between them and their new partner if smelly feet were discovered, indicating that 20,647,867 people would end a relationship over bad foot hygiene. Women were less accepting of their partner’s bad foot odor, making up 53% of those who were unable to tolerate it.
Sock hygiene habits in the UK by relationship status
One in three (33%) surveyed are married or in long-term relationships who wash their dirty socks every 3 months or less compared to those who are single (12.6%), suggesting that bad sock hygiene is more than twice as likely when people are in committed relationships. In particular, men in relationships are 46.7% more likely to never wash their dirty socks than single men.
Continuing the trend of hygiene habits worsening after being in a long-term relationship, the survey also reveals that more than 1 in 10 (11%) single men change their socks less than every 6 months. This indicates that 1,346,000 million single men in the UK are re-wearing their socks for at least 6 months. In comparison, 37.5% more committed men and 106% more committed women report changing socks every 6 months or more.