Nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK adults would give up their 9-5 life tomorrow – to be a cowboy or cowgirl in America.
The current cost-of-living crisis in the UK has left half of the 2,000 adults polled more likely to dream of leaving the country for a simpler, homestead life – with 29% saying they would happily swap their lives in Britain for life on a ranch.
It also emerged 30% are so enamoured with the idea of cowboy life, they want to go on a ranching holiday – while 50% enjoy watching western movies and TV shows.
The study, into Brits’ attitudes into modern Western living, was commissioned by Paramount+, to celebrate season 4 of the critically-acclaimed series Yellowstone – which had 11 million viewers when it aired in the US earlier this year.
Set in Montana, Yellowstone chronicles the Dutton family, led by patriarch John Dutton – played by Kevin Costner – who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in America.
Amid shifting alliances, unsolved murders, open wounds, and hard-earned respect – with the ranch in constant conflict with those it borders – sits an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and the United States' first national park.
And when it comes to what attracts people to life on a ranch, a third (34%) equate the cowboy look – hat, boots, checked shirt, and jeans – with the lifestyle, more than any other aspect of ranch life.
And a quarter (26%) named the most appealing aspect of ranch life as the great outdoors, plumping for the fresh air and wide-open spaces above a large ranch house or life on the land.
The study, carried out via OnePoll, also revealed the top 10 phrases from cowboy culture Brits use in everyday life – with “howdy” at the top of the list.
“Howdy partner”, “make hay while the sun shines”, “peckish”, and “yellow belly”, completed the top five.
To mark the study, a real-life Western entertainer, Todd Various, took to the streets of London to perform his award-winning rope spinning and whip cracking show.
Passers-by on Kensington High Street cheered as Todd cracked his 8ft cord whip, stopped traffic, and delighted crowds with his signature wedding rope trick.
TOP 10 “COWBOY CULTURE” PHRASES USED BY BRITS:
- Howdy
- Howdy, partner
- Make hay while the sun shines
- Peckish
- Yellow belly
- Play second fiddle
- Been through the mill
- Whole hog
- Above board
- Cow rustling
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