Of the 1,700 35-44 year olds questioned, two thirds said they would not kiss someone who had just smoked a cigarette.
Around half of them would have to think carefully about starting a serious relationship with a smoker.
The evidence from the Department of Health is backed up by anecdotal evidence from dating website eHarmony.co.uk, which reported that a massive 81% of its members would not date a heavy smoker.
Sarah Beeny, presenter on the Channel 4 series Property Ladder and founder of mysinglefriend.com said: “It’s obvious that non-smokers find it harder to live with a smoker, so by giving up you not only increase your dating market, but protect the years you have together when you do settle down.”
Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, stated that the poll was a personal jibe against a population minority and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Over eight million people in the UK smoke. By quitting, these people could increase their life-expectancy by an estimated 16 years.
The Department of Health are defending the poll and would like to convey the message that, if smokers want more romance in their lives, they may have to stop smoking.
If you are finding it hard to stop smoking, you may wish to seek help from a counsellor. To find out more about how counselling can help, please visit our Smoking page.
View and comment on the original BBC article.
print this page