British families are just as dysfunctional as Roy clan from Succession

British families are just as dysfunctional as Roy clan from Succession as research reveals that almost 50% of us are at war with a family member

As cult TV show Succession returns to the small screen for its final season, ICE 36 has discovered that UK families are just as complicated and dysfunctional as the Roy clan, with 44% of the nation admitting they are currently ‘at war’ with a member of their family and on in three (35%) revealing that they haven’t spoken to a family member in over three years.

The study, which polled a diverse cross-section of 2,000 Brits, revealed that there is a striking similarity between the average British family and the fictional Roy’s who are jostling for control of the Waystar RoyCo media empire in the HBO smash hit series. 

To borrow a phrase from Logan Roy, the ruthless patriarch of the Roy Family and founder and CEO of the family-owned business, Brits "go full fu**ing beast!" when it comes to family relationships. 

Life does indeed imitate art as selfishness (28%), life choices (26%), relationship issues (21%) and parenting differences (14%), issues with children (14%), not pulling their weight in the family (14%) and jealousy (14%) were uncovered as the most common reasons for creating family feuds and conflicts. 

One in six (12%) say that the other person being jealous of them and not liking their partner (12%) caused the rift, while a tenth (10%) are owed money. 

Like cousin Greg, who considers suing GreenPeace after discovering his grandfather is going to give his inheritance to the charity, a tenth of Brits (9%) have fallen out over the distribution of inheritance, with a further one in ten (9%) putting it down to political opinions. 

London has the highest number of feuding families (59%), followed by Norwich (55%), Nottingham (55%) and Liverpool (52%). 

TOP TEN REASONS FOR FEUDING FAMILIES

1. Selfishness                                               28%
2. Life choices                                              26%
3. Relationship issues                                   21%
4. Parenting differences                                14%
5. Issues with children                                 14%
6. Not pulling their weight in the family        14%
7. Jealousy                                                  14%
8. Jealous of the other person                       12%                   
9. Don’t like a partner                                  12%
10. Owing money                                           10%

88% of those polled admitted they believed the old adage ‘you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family’, just like the loathsome Succession characters drama who optimise this saying. 

LIFE IMITATING ART: TOP FIVE FAMILY FEUD INSIGHTS & SUCCESSION SCENES

1. The awkward family therapy session at Connor’s Ranch: Four in ten (36%) Brits say they regularly have awkward family get-togethers where they do their best to avoid relatives in order to keep the peace
2. Logan not attending Kendall’s 40th birthday party: A third (35%) simply don’t go to family events anymore because they don’t want to face the person they’ve fallen out with
3. Tom’s power move at the end of season 3 by betraying Shiv and telling Logan his kids’ plan to shut down the sale of Waystar Royco: A third (30%) don’t share anything with their family anymore and admit that they don’t talk to them as much as they did (30%)
4. Logan tells Kerry that he wants her to permanently block Kendall's number so that he can't call him: 23% have completely cut contact and don’t talk to the family member they’ve fallen out with at all
5. Logan and just about anyone he has a run-in with on the show: Over 60s are most likely to hold a grudge, with 51% admitting they will never make up with a family member they have fallen out with

Article credit - ICE 36