Greg WilliamsIf you’re a guy with red hair, you owe a debt of gratitude to Ed Sheeran. Why? Well, according to a new poll, he’s the reason that you’ve probably been doing better in the romance department.
The British paper The Sun reports that the poll of 175 red-haired men and 1,000 women found that one in five male redheads aged 25 to 34 have been getting more female attention since Ed became famous. This has been dubbed the “Ed Sheeran effect.”
In addition, over a third of women say they feel more positive toward redheads since Ed came on the scene, with one in 20 women saying they actually prefer red hair, especially auburn, over other hair colors.
What’s more, one in five redheads have been told they look like the singer/songwriter, and a quarter agree that the public in general has a more positive view of redheads since Ed topped the charts.
Strangely, though, when the same poll asked respondents to name the “Hottest Male Ginger Stars” — “ginger” being the U.K. slang for redheads — Ed came in fourth. Numbers 1, 2 and 3, respectively, were Prince Harry, Ewan MacGregor and Damien Lewis, star of Homeland and Billions.
By the way, while this poll might seem odd to U.S. readers, keep in mind that it was conducted in the U.K., where there has historically been a bias against redheads.
A spokeswoman for the company that commissioned the poll tells The Sun, “‘Ed Sheeran has shown how his appearance has no effect on his talent and more people are embracing their natural color.”
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