Following its recent arrival on Netflix in the UK, Friends is having a bit of a moment.
It's been more than a decade since the finale aired (and more than two decades since the show began), but it's clearly still a nostalgic TV favourite for millions of us.
New YouGov Omnibus research finds that two-thirds of British people have watched at least a few episodes of Friends at some stage, with 25-44-year-olds being the biggest fans.
Of the 18-24-year-olds who have watched the show, 35% say they love it and the same goes for 25-34-year-olds. Okay, so it's popular, but which of the cast of six is the best friend of all?
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This month, Britain voted and the winner is Chandler Bing, with 20% of Friends viewers saying he's their favourite. Could you BE any less surprised? (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)
Intellectually challenged womaniser Joey comes in second place, followed by the ditsy one, Phoebe, who got 15% of the vote and owner of everyone's favourite '90s haircut, Rachel, with 13%. The Geller family perform poorly, with Ross and Monica the favourites of only 6% and 5% of Friends viewers respectively.
The survey also found that men are more likely than women to be fans of Joey, while women are more likely to prefer Phoebe. I'd rather hang out with Gunther, personally.
So what's Chandler got that the rest don't, other than weird intonation? Well, most viewers like him for his wit. Chandler is lols, Phoebe is seen as the nice one, Joey is the most fun and Rachel is the most attractive. Monica's cleanliness and perfectionism are to blame for her lack of popularity (she was voted least 'nice') while brother Ross is seen as the most annoying of the gang, but in fairness they all had their moments.
The study threw up some interesting info regarding attitudes to cheating. One of the most infamous plot points in the decade-long will-they-won’t-they storyline of Ross and Rachel’s romance is their relationship “break”, during which Ross slept with another woman.
Among Friends viewers, 61% agreed with Ross’s interpretation of that particular situation. Still, despite his frequent cries of “We were on a break!”, the general public is split on the issue, with 41% saying it is acceptable to sleep with someone else while on a break, and 37% saying it isn’t.
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Men and women took opposing views on the subject of relationship breaks, too. Forty-six percent of men say Ross’s actions were acceptable; only 36% of women concurred. We'll call that The One Where We Agree To Disagree.
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