What is romance? More than half of Britons are confused, survey shows

Chivalry may be dead but romance lives on. However, what actually constitutes romance these days has Britons confused, according to a new survey. It seems many traditional acts associated with love are considered outdated.

The nation’s favourite raunchy romance peddlers Mills & Boon surveyed 2,000 men and women in Britain in a bid to find out what they considered to be romantic in the 21st Century.

The survey revealed that nearly 6 in 10 people are confused about what constitutes romance. Whatever it is, three quarters of those surveyed want more of it in their lives.

Some things never change. The most widely recognized, and arguably the simplest, romantic gesture was good old fashioned holding hands (46 percent) followed closely in second place by a cuddle (44 percent).

Buying a surprise gift, taking a romantic walk, and presenting your partner with a bunch of flowers featured in the top 5. At the lower end of the romance scale was sharing an umbrella, giving your partner a foot massage, and arriving home with your partner’s favorite take-away meal.

In a truly modern gesture of romance, waiting to watch the next episode of your favorite TV show together, rather than skipping ahead and pretending it’s the first time you’ve seen it, ranked number 15.

That’s the turn-ons, but equally important are turn-offs (listen up guys, you may just learn a thing or two). The number one passion killer is yet another one from the modern age – mobile phone addiction (49 percent), followed closely by, and somewhat unsurprisingly, bad personal hygiene (45 percent).

Being rude, drinking too much and criticizing your partner feature in the top 5. Being mean with money and talking about your ex (obviously) are also major no-nos.

So put down the phone, have a wash, go for a nice hand-in-hand walk together, then head home to snuggle and watch your favorite show together. Therein lies the key to modern romance.